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DISCOVERTHE ICRC
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Cover photo: Olav Saltbones/Norwegian Red Cross
International Committee o the Red Cross19 Avenue de la Paix1202 Geneva, Switzerland
T + 41 22 734 60 01 F + 41 22 733 20 57E-mail: shop.gva@icrc.orgwww.icrc.org ICRC, September 2005
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CONTENTS
About the ICRC
The ICRC in a nutshell
The ICRC around the world
Legal status
Origins and history
Red Cross and Red Crescent
A global movement
Emblems o humanity
International humanitarian law
The rules o warDevelopment o the law
Weapons preventing the worst
Protection in war
Protection o civilians
Protection o detainees
Restoring amily links
Assistance or conict victimsEconomic security
Water and habitat
Health services
Preventive action
Making the rules known
Cooperation with
National SocietiesWhy cooperation?
Mutual support
Working with others
Relations with other organizations
Resources
Who works or the ICRC?
How the ICRC is nanced
MarkoKokic/Federation
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CarinaAppel/ICRC
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Despite eorts to achieve world peace in
the wake o two world wars, armed conict
remains a prominent eature o our human
landscape. The resort to arms continues to
be a means o settling dierences between
nations, peoples and ethnic groups, with
the accompanying toll o death and
suering.
The International Committee o the Red
Cross (ICRC) was ounded nearly a centuryand a hal ago in recognition o this sad
reality. It seeks to preserve a measure o
humanity in the midst o war. Its guiding
principle is that even in war there are limits:
limits on how warare is conducted and
limits on how combatants behave. The set
o rules that were established with this in
mind and endorsed by nearly every nation
in the world is known as internationalhumanitarian law, o which the Geneva
Conventions are the bedrock.
The ICRCs special role was assigned to it
by States through the various instruments
o humanitarian law. However, while it
maintains a constant dialogue with States,
it insists at all times on its independence.
For, only i it is ree to act independently o
any government or other authority, can the
ICRC serve the true interests o the victims
o conict, which lie at the heart o its
humanitarian mission.
The ollowing pages provide an insight into
this unique organization, its origins, aims
and ideals, how it works, why it works in
a certain way and who, ultimately, are the
beneciaries o its actions.
Te ICRCs mission is to protect
and assist the civilian and military
victims o armed conicts and
internal disturbances on a strictly
neutral and impartial basis.
Its tasks include:
- visits to prisoners o war and
civilian detainees;
- searching or missing persons;
- transmission o messages
between amily members
separated by conict;
- reunication o dispersedamilies;
- provision o ood, water and
medical assistance to civilians
without access to these basic
necessities;
- spreading knowledge o
humanitarian law;
- monitoring compliance with
that law;
- drawing attention to violations,and contributing to the
development o humanitarian
law.
ABOUT THE ICRC
The ICRC in a nutshell
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The ICRC around the world
Although the ICRC is the product o aprivate Swiss initiative, its work and scope
are international. The organization has
delegations and missions in some 80
countries around the world and employs
a sta o over 11,000 people, most o
them nationals o the countries in which itworks. About 800 people work at the ICRCs
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland,
providing vital support to and supervision
o eld operations, and determining and
implementing institutional policies and
strategies.
ICRC ield delegations may cover one
country or, in the case o regional
delegations, several countries. They carry
out a range o activities, depending onthe situation and the needs in a particular
country. Activities may include:
- protecting and assisting the victims o
existing or emerging armed confict orviolence (civilians, people deprived o
their reedom, dispersed amilies, the
wounded and sick);
- preventive action, cooperation withNational Societies and humanitarian
coordination and diplomacy.
(For details o these activities, see relevant
chapter.)
Delegations also act as important early
warning systems. This enables the ICRC to
respond to needs quickly and eectively
when armed violence or confict erupts.
This map is or inormation purposes only and has no political signicance.
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Legal status
The ICRC is a neutral, impartial and
independent humanitarian organization.
Its mandate to protect and assist the
victims o armed conict has been con-
erred on it by States through the our
Geneva Conventions o 1949 and their
Additional Protocols o 1977 and 2005,
worthy successors to the First Geneva
Convention o 1864.
The ICRCs mandate and legal status set
it apart both rom intergovernmental
agencies, such as United Nations organi-zations, and rom non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). In most o the
countries in which it works, the ICRC has
concluded headquarters agreements with
the authorities. Through these agreements,
which are subject to international law, the
ICRC enjoys the privileges and immunities
usually only granted to intergovernmental
organizations, such as immunity romlegal process, which protects it rom
administrative and judicial proceedings,
and inviolability o its premises, archives
and other documents. Such privileges and
immunities are indispensable or the ICRC
because they guarantee two conditions
essential to its action, namely neutrality
and independence. The organization
has concluded such an agreementwith Switzerland, thus guaranteeing its
independence and reedom o action rom
the Swiss government.
Origins and history
The ICRC owes its origins to the vision and
determination o one man: Henry Dunant.
The date: 24 June 1859. The place: Solerino,
a town in northern Italy. The Austrian and
French armies were locked in bitter battle
and, ater 16 hours o ghting, the ground
was strewn with 40,000 dead and wounded.
That same evening, Dunant, a Swiss citizen,
passed through the area on business. He
was horried by the sight o thousands o
soldiers rom both armies let to suer or
want o medical care. He appealed to the
local people to help him tend the wounded,insisting that soldiers on both sides should
be treated equally.
On his return to Switzerland, Dunant
published A Memory of Solferino, in which
he made two solemn appeals:
- or relie societies to be ormed in peace-
time, with nurses who would be ready tocare or the wounded in wartime;
- or these volunteers, who would be
called upon to assist the army medical
services, to be recognized and protected
through an international agreement.
In 1863, a charitable association known as
the Geneva Society or Public Welare set upa ve-member commission to consider how
Dunants ideas could be made a reality. This
commission made up o Gustave Moynier,
Guillaume-Henri Duour, Louis Appia,
Thodore Maunoir and Dunant himsel
ounded the International Committee or
Relie to the Wounded, which later became
the International Committee o the Red
Cross (ICRC).
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The ve ounders then set about ensuring
that the ideas put orward in Dunants book
would become a reality. In response to their
invitation, 16 States and our philanthropic
institutions sent representatives to the
International Conerence which opened in
Geneva on 26 October 1863. It was at that
Conerence that the distinctive emblem ared cross on a white background, the reverse
o the Swiss national ag was adopted and
the Red Cross came into being.
To ormalize protection o medical services
on the battleeld and to gain international
recognition o the Red Cross and its
ideals, the Swiss government convened a
Diplomatic Conerence in Geneva in 1864.
Representatives o 12 governments took
part and adopted a treaty entitled the
Geneva Convention or the Amelioration
o the Condition o the Wounded in Armies
in the Field, which became the rst treaty
o humanitarian law. Subsequently, urther
conerences were held, extending the basic
law to other categories o victims, such asprisoners o war. In the atermath o the
Second World War, a Diplomatic Conerence
deliberated or our months beore
adopting the our Geneva Conventions
o 1949, which reinorced the protection
o civilians in wartime. These Conventions
were supplemented by three Additional
Protocols, adopted in 1977 and in 2005.
OlavSaltbones/NorwegianRedCross
Camp or Sudanese reugees, Chad.
Since 1863, the red cross has been a
symbol o hope or countless people
aected by armed conict throughout
the world.
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ThierryGassmann/ICRC
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RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT
A global movement
The International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement is present and active
in almost every country and comprises
around 100 million members and
volunteers. It is united and guided by the
seven Fundamental Principles humanity,
impartiality, neutrality, independence,
voluntary service, unity and universality
which provide a universal standard o
reerence or all its members. Red Cross and
Red Crescent activities have one centralpurpose: to prevent and alleviate human
suering, without discrimination, and to
protect human dignity.
The Movement is made up o :
- the International Committee o the Red
Cross (ICRC);
- National Societies;
- the International Federation o Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (International
Federation).
The ICRC, the International Federation
and each countrys National Society are
independent organizations. Each has its
own status and exercises no authority over
the others. They meet every two years in the
Council o Delegates and gather every our
years, in principle, with representatives o
the States party to the Geneva Conventions
or an International Conerence o the Red
Cross and Red Crescent.
Fundamental Principles
Te seven Fundamental Principles
o the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement,
which it is the ICRCs duty touphold, were ocially proclaimed
at the 20th International
Conerence o the Red Cross,
held in Vienna in 1.
Tey are:
Humanity
Te International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement, born
o a desire to bring assistance
without discrimination to thewounded on the battleeld,
endeavours, in its international
and national capacity, to prevent
and alleviate human sufering
wherever it may be ound. Its
purpose is to protect lie and
health and to ensure respect or
the human being. It promotesmutual understanding, riendship,
cooperation and lasting peace
amongst all peoples.
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Roles and responsibilities
The Statutes o the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement
dene the relationship between the Red
Cross and Red Crescent institutions. The
responsibilities o each o the Movements
components were urther claried and
rened by the Seville Agreement adopted
by the Council o Delegates in 1997. The
Seville Agreement coners on the ICRC
the role o lead agency or international
operations conducted by the Red Cross and
Red Crescent in situations o armed conict
and internal strie, including activities or
displaced people.
The ICRC is responsible or veriying that
uture National Societies meet the criteria
or membership o the Movement and
that they are in a position to conduct
their activities in accordance with the
Fundamental Principles. I so, the ICRC
grants them oicial recognition. The
National Society concerned may thenapply to join the International Federation.
In practice, however, applications are
reviewed jointly by the ICRC and the
International Federation.
Whos who in the Movement
The International Committee o the Red
Cross is the Movements ounding body.
In addition to carrying out operational
activities to protect and assist victims
o armed conict, it is the promoter and
custodian o international humanitarian law.
It is also the guardian o the Fundamental
Principles. In cooperation with the
International Federation, it organizes the
Movements statutory meetings.
National Societies embody the work and
principles o the Movement in more than
180 countries. National Societies act asauxiliaries to the public authorities o their
own countries in the humanitarian eld
and provide a range o services including
disaster relie and health and social
programmes. In wartime, National Societies
assist the aected civilian population and,
where appropriate, support the army
medical services.
Impartiality
It makes no discrimination as to
nationality, race, religious belies,
class or political opinions. It
endeavours to relieve the suferingo individuals, being guided
solely by their needs, and to give
priority to the most urgent cases
o distress.
Neutrality
In order to continue to enjoy the
condence o all, the Movement
may not take sides in hostilities
or engage at any time incontroversies o a political, racial,
religious or ideological nature.
Independence
Te Movement is independent. Te
National Societies, while auxiliaries
in the humanitarian services o their
governments and subject to the lawso their respective countries, must
always maintain their autonomy so
that they may be able at all times to
act in accordance with the principles
o the Movement.
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The International Federation o Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies works
on the basis o the Fundamental Principles
o the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement to inspire, acilitate
and promote all humanitarian activities
carried out by its member National
Societies to improve the situation o the
most vulnerable people. Founded in 1919,
the International Federation directs and
coordinates international assistance o
the Movement to victims o natural and
technological disasters, to reugees and in
health emergencies. It acts as the ofcialrepresentative o its member societies
in the international ield. It promotes
cooperation between National Societies
and strengthens their capacity to prepare
eectively or disasters and to carry out
health and social programmes.
Te Sudanese Red Crescent is acrucial partner or the ICRC in
delivering assistance to displaced
people in the Darur region o Sudan.
Voluntary service
It is a voluntary relie movement
not prompted in any manner by
desire or gain.
Unity
Tere can be only one Red
Cross or Red Crescent Society
in any one country. It must be
open to all. It must carry on itshumanitarian work throughout its
territory.
Universality
Te International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement, in which
all Societies have equal status and
share equal responsibilities andduties in helping each other, is
worldwide.
BorisHeger/ICRC
Doctor treating Colombian reugees
in the Darien region o Panama.
Voluntary service is one o the
Fundamental Principles o the
Movement.
ThierryGassmann/
ICRC
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Emblems o humanity
From the very beginning, the ICRCs
ounders recognized the need or a single,
universal and easily recognizable emblem
amiliar to all. To their mind, the emblem
had to protect not only people wounded
in battle but also those bringing them
aid. It was also to protect all medical units,
including those o the enemy. The idea
was that the mere sight o it would prompt
combatants to show restraint and respect.
The red cross on a white background (the
reverse o the Swiss national ag) was
adopted by the International Conerenceo 1863 (see p. 7) as the distinctive sign
o societies bringing relie to wounded
soldiers (the uture National Societies). A
year later it was recognized by a Diplomatic
Conerence as the distinctive sign o
army medical services and sanctioned by
humanitarian law with the adoption o
the Geneva Convention o 1864. However,
in 1876, the Ottoman Empire decided touse a red crescent instead o the red cross.
Several States ollowed suit and in 1929 the
red crescent in turn was granted ofcial
recognition, along with the Iranian red lion
and sun (not currently in use).
Over the years, the Movement has been
considering the possibility o introducing
changes relating to the use o the emblemin order to tackle specic problems. Some
Societies that wished to join the Movement
were not comortable with either o the
existing emblems. The Magen David Adom,
the Israeli Society, wanted to use its own
symbol the red shield o David whereas
other Societies preered to use both the red
cross and the red crescent. Neither were
possible under the Geneva Conventions
rules. In addition, in some conicts, the use
o the red cross or the red crescent could
have created problems i misinterpreted by
either party.
To solve these problems, the DiplomaticConerence o December 2005 brought
together the States party to the Geneva
Conventions and adopted Additional
Protocol III, creating a new emblem, the
red crystal. This emblem, ree rom any
religious, cultural or political connotations,
gives States and National Societies greater
exibility in the use o the emblems and
puts an end to the question o prolierationo emblems.
The National Societies already using the
red cross or the red crescent can continue
to do so.
Today, all o the 186 National Societies use
the same emblem as the medical services
o the military orces in their country duringconict the so-called protective use.
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Use and misuse o the emblem
Use o the emblem as a protective device
is the visible maniestation o the protection
accorded by the Geneva Conventions
to persons (members o army medical
services, National Society volunteers, ICRC
delegates, etc.), medical units (hospitals,
rst-aid posts, etc.) and means o transport.
Use o the emblem as an indicative
device shows that a person or object
has a connection with the Movement. To
avoid conusion with the emblem used
as a protective device, the red cross, redcrescent and red crystal used or indicative
purposes are smaller in size.
Misuse o the emblem as a protective
device in time o war jeopardizes the
entire protective system established by
humanitarian law.
Misuse o the emblem as an indicative
device undermines its signicance in the
eyes o the public and thus diminishes its
protective power in wartime.
In cases o misuse o the emblem as a
protective device, the ICRCs role is to
remind the belligerents o their duty to
respect the emblem and o the steps to
be taken against those making improper
use o it, since primary responsibility or
respecting the emblem lies with States.
Where the emblem has been misused asan indicative device, the ICRC requests the
National Society concerned to take the
necessary action to stop such practices.
SudaneseRedCrescent
Under the Geneva Conventions,
persons, vehicles and buildings
protected by the red cross, red crescent
and red crystal emblems must be
respected and protected.
MarkoKokic/CICR
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TeunAnthonyVoeten/IC
RC
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How do you dene a conict?
An international armed conict
involves the armed orces o at
least two States.
A non-international armedconict is an armed conrontation
within the territory o one State
between the State armed orces
and organized armed groups, or
between such armed groups.
What is the diference between
international humanitarian law
and human rights law?
International humanitarian law
is very close to human rightslaw, in that both are concerned
with the protection o every
human beings physical and moral
integrity and dignity. However,
given the nature o humanitarian
law to minimize sufering in
armed conict this body o law
contains rules that are much more
specic than those contained
in human rights treaties, suchas rules pertaining to the
means and methods o combat.
Although distinct, human rights
law and humanitarian law are
complementary.
The rules o war
International humanitarian law, also known
as the law o armed conict or the law o
war, is the body o rules that, in wartime,
protects persons who are not or are no
longer participating in the hostilities. It
limits the methods and means o warare.
Its central purpose is to limit and prevent
human suering in times o armed conict.
The rules are to be observed not only by
governments and their armed orces, butalso by armed opposition groups and any
other parties to a conict.
The our Geneva Conventions o 1949 and
their three Additional Protocols o 1977
and 2005 are the principal instruments o
humanitarian law. Other texts include the
1925 Geneva Protocol banning the use
o gas, the 1980 Convention on CertainConventional Weapons and the 1997
Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition o
Anti-Personnel Mines.
The our Geneva Conventions o 1949 are
applicable to international armed conicts.
They stipulate that civilians and people who
are no longer taking an active part in the
hostilities, such as wounded or captured
combatants, must be spared and treated
humanely. They also set out the role the
ICRC plays in alleviating human suering.
In addition, Article 3 common to all our
Conventions authorizes the ICRC to oer itsservices in the event o non-international
armed conlict and accords minimum
protection to the victims o such situations.
Since August 2006, 194 States are party to
the Geneva Conventions.
The three Additional Protocols o 1977 and
2005 supplement the Conventions. Those
o 1977 aim to limit the use o violenceand protect the civilian population, by
strengthening the rules governing the
conduct o hostilities. At the beginning o
2005, 162 States were party to Protocol I and
157 were party to Protocol II. Protocol III
establishes an additional emblem, the red
crystal.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
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Development o the law
As the nature o warare changes, new areas
o humanitarian law need to be explored
and developed. Beginning with the rst
Geneva Convention in 1864, the ICRC
has worked to improve the protection o
victims by promoting the development
and adoption by States o new legal
standards. Its legal experts organize and
participate in meetings and conerences on
humanitarian themes. Through its Advisory
Service on International Humanitarian Law,
the ICRC also encourages States to adopt
legislation to apply humanitarian law atthe national level. ICRC legal experts at
Geneva headquarters and in the eld give
technical assistance to States, or example,
on legislation to prosecute war criminals
and to protect the red cross, red crescent
and red crystal emblems.
The ICRC also seeks ways to improve
implementation o the law. In 2002, itlaunched a project on the reafrmation and
development o international humanitarian
law. As part o the project, the ICRC is
reecting internally on a range o current
and emerging issues relating to that law,
as well as consulting externally on these
topics.
At the request o the international
community, the ICRC has recently
undertaken a worldwide study on customary
international humanitarian law rules. The
study, completed in 2004, identies where
current recognized practice can complete
written law and treaties, particularly those
applicable to non-international armed
conicts.
In addition, the ICRC promotes awareness
o and compliance with the law (see also
Preventive action, p. 41).
The ICRCs operational activities are
complementary to its legal work. Apart
rom providing help to populations in
need, the ICRC, through its presence in the
eld, is in a privileged position to monitor
respect or humanitarian law, to observe
at close hand the problems that victims o
armed conict ace in their daily lives andto initiate the development o new law.
Whom does international
humanitarian law protect?
First Geneva Convention (1)
protects the wounded and sick in
armed orces in the eld.Second Geneva Convention
(1) protects the wounded, sick
and shipwrecked among armed
orces at sea.
Tird Geneva Convention (1)
protects prisoners o war.
Fourth Geneva Convention (1)
protects civilians.
Additional Protocol I (1)strengthens the protection o
victims o international armed
conicts.
Additional Protocol II (1)
strengthens the protection o
victims o non-international
armed conicts.
Additional Protocol III (200)establishes a new emblem, the
red crystal.
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When violations occur...
I the ICRC observes a violation o the rules
o war, it makes a condential approach
to the authorities responsible or the
incident. Where violations are serious,
repeated and established with certainty,
and when condential representations to
the authorities have ailed to improve the
situation, it reserves the right to take a
public stance by denouncing such ailure
to respect humanitarian law, provided
that it deems such publicity to be in the
interests o those aected or threatened by
the violations. Such a step is exceptional.
It is not the ICRCs task to investigate or
prosecute oences. States party to the
Geneva Conventions are duty bound to
introduce into their national legislation
provisions or the repression o violations
o humanitarian law, including the
prosecution or extradition o war criminals.
Oenders may be arraigned either beorethe national courts o the dierent States
or beore an international tribunal. The
1998 Rome Statute o the International
Criminal Court, which entered into orce in
July 2002, paved the way or the creation
o an internationally recognized body to
try perpetrators o war crimes who or
one reason or another have escaped trial
by their national judicial systems. In theCourts rules o procedure, ICRC sta are
uniquely exempt rom giving evidence, or,
i its sta could be called upon as witnesses
in judicial procedures, the organizations
neutrality would be jeopardized, putting at
risk impartial access to the victims o armed
conict.
BorisHeger/ICRC
Guard outside the presidential palace, Lima, Peru. All
soldiers are bound to respect the limits set by international
humanitarian law.
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Weapons preventing the worst
The ICRC is closely involved in ensuring that
weapons in use and under development
conorm to existing rules o humanitarian
law.
Limits on means and methods o
warare
Two aspects o the weapons issue are o
humanitarian concern. First, is a weapon
indiscriminate and thereore more likely
to cause civilian death and injury? And
second, does it inict more suering thanrequired or a given military purpose?
These concerns were central to the recent
worldwide campaign to ban landmines
which culminated in the 1997 Convention
on the Prohibition o the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transer o Anti-Personnel
Mines and on their Destruction, more
commonly known as the Ottawa
Convention.
In 2000, ollowing the Kosovo conict,
the ICRC called or a new international
agreement on other explosive remnants
o war (ERW). The cause rapidly gained the
support o NGOs and many governments.
Ater ormal negotiations between States
party to the 1980 Convention on Certain
Conventional Weapons, an international
agreement was concluded which requires
parties to an armed conict to take a
number o specic steps to reduce the
dangers posed by ERW. The new treaty,Protocol V on Explosive Remnants o War,
is an essential tool in eorts to minimize
civilian deaths, injury and suering arising
rom modern warare. More work is needed,
however, to raise awareness o the Protocol
and to ensure that it is widely ratied and
implemented by governments and armed
orces.
Te unregulated prolieration o
weapons and their easy availability
uel armed violence and put the
civilian population at risk.
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The ICRC also concerns itsel with weapons
under development, whose eects have
not yet been seen on the battleeld. The
1990s saw a brie but intense campaign
to bring about the prohibition o blinding
laser weapons, a goal achieved in 1995.
Equally alarming are the voices in the
scientic community that warn that the
current advances in lie sciences and
biotechnology could be put to hostile use.
The ICRC has learnt that such advances,
meant to beneit humanity, could beused perversely to make more eective
biological or chemical weapons. As a result,
in 2002 the ICRC launched a rare public
appeal to governments, military bodies
and the scientic community, reminding
these institutions o their legal and moral
obligations to do everything possible to
prevent poisoning and the deliberate
spread o inectious disease as methods owarare.
Unregulated availability o arms
Another growing concern in humanitarian
circles is the unregulated prolieration o
small military-style weapons. In most o
the conicts in the last decade, death and
injury have resulted less rom the major
conventional weapons, such as missiles,
tanks, aircrat and warships, than rom
small arms and light weapons. Anyone,
even children, can operate them, as they
are light and easy to carry, simple to handle
and require little or no training. Unlikemajor weapon systems, their availability
is subject to ew internationally accepted
norms. Even ater ghting has ended on the
battleeld, armed violence oten persists,
uelled by the easy access to weapons. In
some conict and post-conict situations,
rapid-ire assault riles are easier and
cheaper to obtain than ood.
There is strong evidence to suggest that
the widespread availability o military-style
weapons is having a detrimental impact on
respect or humanitarian law and on the
delivery o assistance to the victims o war,
whom that law seeks to protect. The ICRC
has contributed its expertise to the growing
international discussion on this problem,
highlighting the cost to civilians o theree ow o weapons and ammunition,
and has urged governments to take into
account the recipients likely respect or
humanitarian law when making decisions
on arms transers.
TeunAnthonyVoeten/ICRC
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PROTECTION IN WAR
In its activities to protect people in
situations o armed conict or violence,
the ICRCs mission is to obtain ull respect
or the letter and spirit o international
humanitarian law. It seeks to:
- minimize the dangers to which these
people are exposed;
- prevent and put a stop to the abuses to
which they are subjected;
- draw attention to their rights and maketheir voices heard;
- bring them assistance.
The ICRC does this by remaining close to
the victims o conict and violence and by
maintaining a condential dialogue with
both State and non-State actors.
A diversied strategy
The rst ormal step taken by the ICRC
when a conict breaks out is to remind
the authorities o their responsibilities
and obligations towards the civilian
population, prisoners, and wounded and
sick combatants, giving priority to respect
or their physical integrity and dignity.
Ater carrying out independent surveys,
the ICRC puts orward recommendations
to the authorities or tangible measures
preventive and corrective to improve the
situation o the aected population.
At the same time, the ICRC takes action
o its own accord to respond to the most
urgent needs, notably by:
- providing ood and other basic
necessities;
- evacuating and/or transerring people atrisk;
- restoring and preserving contact
between dispersed amily members and
tracing missing persons.
Where places o detention are concerned,
the ICRC also undertakes programmes
with a longer-term, structural perspective,providing technical and material assistance
to the detaining authorities.
An ICRC and Sri Lankan Red Cross team registers
requests to trace people who went missing during the
tsunami in December 2004.JessicaBarry/ICRC
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Protection o civilians
Civilians oten endure horriic ordeals
in todays conicts, sometimes as direct
targets. Massacres, hostage-taking, sexual
violence, harassment, expulsion, orced
transer and looting, and the deliberate
denial o access to water, ood and health
care, are some o the practices which spread
terror and suering among civilians.
Humanitarian law is ounded on the
principle o the immunity o the civilian
population. People who are not, or no
longer, taking part in the hostilities mayunder no circumstances be attacked:
they must be spared and protected. In
international armed conicts, the Fourth
Geneva Convention o 1949 and Additional
Protocol I o 1977 contain specic provisions
that protect civilians and civilian property.
In non-international armed conlicts,
the civilian population has the right to
protection by virtue o Article 3 common tothe our Geneva Conventions.
Protection is the mainstay o ICRC
activities, at the heart o its mandate and
o international humanitarian law. The
ICRC maintains a constant presence in
areas where civilians are particularly at risk.
Its delegates keep up a regular dialogue
with all weapon bearers, whether they aremembers o the armed orces, rebel groups,
police orces, paramilitary orces or other
groups taking part in the ghting.
BorisHeger/ICRC
Red Cross messages are a lieline
or amilies who have lost contact
with each other as a result o armed
conict.
In Chechnya, the ICRC distributes
mattresses and household goods to
displaced people who had to leave
behind all their belongings.
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Displaced by conict
Armed conlict oten results in large-
scale displacements o civilians, both
across international borders and within
the rontiers o aected countries. In
most cases, these people have had to
leave behind all but a ew o their worldly
possessions. They are obliged to travel
long distances, oten on oot, to seek sae
reuge away rom the ghting. Families are
dispersed, children lose contact with their
parents, and elderly relatives too weak to
undertake such an arduous journey are let
behind to end or themselves. Reugees
and internally displaced people lose theirmeans o generating their own income.
They are thereore dependent, at least in
the rst instance, on the goodwill o their
hosts and on humanitarian agencies or
their survival.
When people are displaced within their
countrys borders as a result o an armed
conict, they orm part o the aectedcivilian population. As such, they are
protected by humanitarian law and benet
rom ICRC protection and assistance
programmes.
Indeed, given the extremely precarious
situation in which many internally displaced
people nd themselves, they orm a large
percentage o the beneciaries o ICRC
activities. Where the national authorities
are unable to do so, the ICRC steps in
to provide or the most urgent needs o
displaced people. In doing so, however, it
keeps in mind that the resources o host
communities may have been stretched to
the limit to accommodate the new arrivals,
thereby rendering them vulnerable too,
and that those who are let behind may
also ace extreme hardship and danger. Itis with reerence to this, the bigger picture,
that the ICRC determines the beneciaries
o its assistance programmes. Vulnerability,
rather than belonging to a particular
category, is the deciding actor.
People who have ed across international
borders are considered reugees and
benet rom protection and assistancerom the Ofce o the United Nations High
Commissioner or Reugees (UNHCR). In
such cases, the ICRC acts only at a subsidiary
level, particularly where reugees are
protected by humanitarian law or when its
presence is required as a specically neutral
and independent intermediary (during
attacks on reugee camps, or example). It
also provides Red Cross message servicesto enable reugees to re-establish contact
with amily members rom whom they have
become separated as a result o an armed
conict (see Restoring amily links, p. 28).
BorisHeger/ICRC
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The ICRC believes that it is oten
violations o humanitarian law that cause
displacement in the rst place. In addition
to its operational work on behal o
reugees and displaced people, thereore,
the ICRC strives to disseminate and to
promote respect or humanitarian law so as
to prevent displacements (see Preventive
action, p. 41).
Women and war
The ICRC assists women victims o conict
as part o its broader mandate to protect
and assist all victims o conict. However,
since women do have specic protection,health and assistance needs, the ICRC
ocuses attention on ensuring that these
needs are adequately and appropriately
addressed in all its activities. In particular,
it puts emphasis on the protection which
must be accorded to women and girls,
and to spread awareness among weapon
bearers that sexual violence in all its orms
is prohibited by humanitarian law andshould be vigorously prevented.
Women and girls predominantly experience
armed conict as civilians and as such
are oten exposed to acts o violence,
including:
- death and injury rom indiscriminate
military attacks and the prevalence omines;
- lack o the basic means o survival and
health care;
- limitations on their means to support
themselves and their amilies.
Disappearances, hostage-taking, torture,
imprisonment, orced recruitment into
the armed orces, displacement these all
happen to women and girls, as well as men
and boys.
More specic but not exclusive to
women and girls is the crime o sexual
violence. Since wars began, rape and other
orms o sexual violence have been used
as a means o warare, to humiliate and
subjugate the enemy. Violations such as
rape, enorced prostitution, sexual slavery
and enorced impregnation or enorced
termination o pregnancy are heinousattacks against the lie and the physical and
psychological integrity o the person, and
are recognized as such under humanitarian
law.
Although women are requently portrayed
solely as victims, this does not reect reality.
Women throughout the world are showing
not only that they can be extremely resilient,but also that they can put their ingenuity
and coping skills to ull use in their daily
roles as heads o household, breadwinners
and care providers within their amilies and
communities. Such capacities are helping
to sustain and rebuild communities torn
apart by conict.
Women also take an active part in war, indirect combat as part o a military orce,
and may support their menolk who are
ghting. As combatants captured by the
enemy, women are aorded protection
equal to that o men under humanitarian
law. The law recognizes womens need
or special protection according to their
specic needs. Women ghters, like their
male counterparts, must also be instructedin the law o war, so that they can act in
accordance with the rules.
2
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Children and war
Although the ICRC acts impartially to
assist all the victims o war and internal
violence according to their needs, it cannot
be denied that the needs o children are
radically dierent rom those o women,
men and the elderly. All too oten children
are helpless, irst-hand witnesses o
atrocities committed against their parents
or other amily members. They are killed,
mutilated, recruited to ght, imprisoned
or otherwise separated rom their amilies.
Cut o rom the environment amiliar to
them, even those who manage to escape
lack any certainty as to their uture and thato their loved ones. They are oten orced to
ee, abandoned to their own devices and
rejected without an identity.
The ICRC registers children who have been
separated rom their parents as a result
o armed conict and searches or their
next-o-kin in order to restore contact; the
children are reunited with their amilies
wherever possible. I the children are too
young or traumatized to give details about
their identity, the ICRC takes a photograph,
which is then circulated widely or displayed
in public in the hope that their relatives will
recognize them.
The ICRC gives children, along with other
civilians, ood aid and other materialassistance, both in emergencies and
over the long term. It also improves their
access to sae water and medical care (see
Assistance or conict victims p. 31).
The Geneva Conventions and their
Additional Protocols give prominence
to the protection o children, both by
means o provisions protecting the civilianpopulation as a whole and provisions that
ocus specically on children. The ICRC has
been involved in the negotiation o other
treaties that provide similar protection,
especially the 1989 Convention on the
Rights o the Child and its 2000 Optional
Protocol on the involvement o children in
armed conict and the 1998 Rome Statute
o the International Criminal Court, Article 8o which considers it a war crime to recruit
children under the age o 15 years or to use
them to participate actively in hostilities.
Children in Kabul have grown up among the debris o war.
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Protection o detainees
In international armed conlicts, the
Geneva Conventions recognize the right o
ICRC delegates to visit prisoners o war and
civilian internees. Preventing them rom
carrying out their mission would amount to
a violation o humanitarian law.
In non-international armed conicts and
situations o internal violence, Article 3
common to the our Geneva Conventions
and the Statutes o the Movement
authorize the ICRC to oer its services to
visit detainees, and many governmentsaccept its proposal to do so.
Deprived o reedom: severe
vulnerability
Being deprived o their reedom puts
people in a vulnerable position vis--vis
the detaining authority and within the
prison environment. This vulnerability is
particularly acute in times o armed conictand internal violence, when the excessive
and illegal use o orce is commonplace and
structural deciencies are exacerbated.
The ICRC works to:
- prevent or put an end to disappearances
and summary executions, torture and
ill-treatment;
- restore contact between detainees and
their amilies;
- improve conditions o detention when
necessary and in accordance with the
applicable law.
It does so by carrying out visits to places
o detention. On the basis o its ndings,
it makes condential approaches to the
authorities and, i necessary, provides
material or medical assistance to the
detainees.
During visits, ICRC delegates conduct
private interviews with each detainee. They
note down the detainees details, so that
their cases can be ollowed right up to the
time o their release; the detainees describe
any problems o a humanitarian naturethey may ace.
While reraining rom taking a position as to
the reasons or their arrest or capture, the
ICRC tries to ensure that detainees benet
rom the judicial guarantees to which they
are entitled under humanitarian law.
BorisHeger/ICRC
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Conditions or ICRC visits
Beore beginning visits to places o
detention, the ICRC rst submits to the
authorities a set o standard conditions.
Delegates must be allowed to:
- see all detainees alling within the ICRCs
mandate and have access to all places
where they are held;
- interview detainees o their choice
without witnesses;
- draw up, during the visits, lists odetainees within the ICRCs mandate or
receive rom the authorities such lists
which the delegates may veriy and, i
necessary, complete;
- repeat visits to detainees o their choice
as requently as they may eel necessary;
- restore contact between detainees and
amily members;
- provide urgent material and medical
assistance as required.
Anayancy prison, Quibdo, Colombia.Te ICRC interviews all detainees
alling within its mandate in a given
place o detention to check on their
treatment and living conditions.
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Restoring amily links
The ICRCs Central Tracing Agency works
to restore contact between dispersed
amily members in all situations o armed
conict or internal violence. Each year,
hundreds o thousands o new cases o
people being sought by their relatives are
opened, whether they concern displaced
people, reugees, detainees or missing
persons. Those who are located are given
the opportunity to send and receive Red
Cross messages and/or are put in contact
with their amilies thanks to the worldwide
network supported by the ICRC andcomprising 186 National Societies.
Link to the outside
In international armed conicts, the ICRCs
Central Tracing Agency ulils the task
assigned to it under humanitarian law
o gathering, processing and passing on
inormation on protected persons, notably
prisoners o war and civilian internees.
For detainees and their amilies, receiving
news o their loved ones is always o huge
importance. In a wide range o contexts,
the ICRC has given prisoners o war,
civilian internees, security detainees and
sometimes even ordinary detainees the
opportunity to communicate with their
relatives.
Canete, Cocahuasi, Peru. Aer 23 years,
rst as a orced recruit o the rebels
and then as a prisoner o the military,
Evita is reunited with her brother
under ICRC auspices.
Jai
meRazuri/AFP
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Dispersed amilies
Preservation o the amily unit is a universal
right guaranteed by law. The ICRC does
everything possible to reunite people
separated by conict, by establishing their
whereabouts and putting them back in
touch with their amilies. Special attention
is given to particularly vulnerable groups,
such as children separated rom their
parents or elderly people.
Sometimes, a travel document provided by
the ICRC is the only means or a destitute
person without identity papers to join hisor her amily settled in a third country or to
return to his or her country o origin. The
growing number o reugees and asylum
seekers has meant that the ICRC is called
upon more and more oten to issue travel
documents or people who have received
authorization to settle in a host country.
Missing persons: the right to know
Even ater the guns have allen silent, the
amilies o missing persons continue to
be haunted by the unknown ate o their
loved ones. Are they still alive? Are they
injured or imprisoned? Humanitarian law
obliges all parties to a conict to provide
answers to these questions and recognizes
the right o the amilies to know what
happened. The ICRC assists in this process
by collecting inormation on missing
persons or by putting mechanisms in place
together with the authorities with the aim
o clariying the ate or whereabouts opersons unaccounted or and inorming
their amilies.
At the end o 2001, the ICRC launched a
project on The Missing which aimed to
heighten awareness among governments,
the military and international and national
organizations o the tragedy o people
unaccounted or as a result o armed conictor internal violence, and o the anguish
suered by their amilies. A process o
consultation, drawing on the knowledge o
experts rom all corners o the globe,
culminated in an international conerence
on missing persons and their amilies,
convened by the ICRC in Geneva,
Switzerland, in February 2003. The
conerence brought together 350 partici-pants rom 86 countries, and its
recommendations orm a strong basis or
uture work. The ultimate goals are to
ensure that the authorities and leaders
responsible or solving the problem o
missing persons are held accountable, to
enhance assistance to amilies and to
prevent urther disappearances.
The ICRC is strongly committed to its
project on The Missing. Operational
guidelines are currently being implemented
on the ground by all the ICRC delegations
concerned.
Brcko District, Bosnia and Herzegovina. More than 13 yearsaer he went missing during the conict, the amily o this
young man still do not know whether he is alive or dead.
ICRC
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ThierryGassmann/ICRC
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ASSISTANCE FOR CONFLICT VICTIMS
Modern-day humanitarian emergencies
are characterized by outbreaks o extreme
violence requently directed against
civilians. These oten coincide with or are
the indirect cause o other crises such
as amines, epidemics and economic
upheaval. The combined eects may put
the civilian population in extreme peril,
their coping mechanisms stretched to the
limit, and in dire need o assistance.
The primary aim o ICRC assistance is,
thereore, to protect conict victims livesand health, to ease their plight and to
ensure that the consequences o conict
disease, injury, hunger or exposure to the
elements do not jeopardize their uture.
While emergency assistance saves lives
and mitigates the worst eects o conict,
the ICRC tries always to keep sight o the
ultimate aim o restoring peoples ability to
provide or themselves.
Assistance may take a variety o orms,
depending on the region and the nature
o the crisis. It may include the provision o
ood and/or medicine, but usually builds
on the capacity to deliver essential services,
such as the construction or repair o
water-supply systems or medical acilities
and the training o primary-health-caresta, surgeons and prosthetic/orthotic
technicians.
Hebron, West Bank. Parcels
containing ood and basic necessities
enable destitute amilies to survive
during prolonged periods o ghting.
CarinaAppel/ICRC
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In certain conicts, unlawul tactics may be
used by either side, such as blockades on ood
and other essential goods, obstruction o
water supplies, and deliberate destruction
o crops and inrastructure. In such cases,
beore providing assistance, the ICRC
attempts to prevent or bring an end to
violations by drawing the parties attention
to their responsibilities under international
humanitarian law.
Beore beginning any assistance programme,
the ICRC makes a careul assessment o what
each group needs in the context o its own
environment, so that the aid is appropriate.In addition, the ICRC makes sure that
supplies are distributed in compliance with
the principles o humanity, impartiality and
neutrality (see pp. 911).
In its constant quest to improve the
quality o its action, the ICRC monitors
each programme throughout, adapts it as
the situation evolves and, when it is over,evaluates the lessons learned and ways to
do better next time. The ICRCs evaluation
policy applies to every sphere o its activity,
not just relie operations, so that it can
provide the best response possible to the
multiaceted needs o conict victims.
An ICRC convoy brings desperately
needed supplies to the people o Aceh
suering the dual eects o conict
and natural disaster.
ThierryGassmann/ICRC
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Economic security
Economic security means that a household
is sel-sufcient and can meet its own basic
economic needs. In a conict or crisis, in
which displacement, thet, looting and the
destruction o property and inrastructure
are commonplace, households may no
longer be able to provide or themselves,
thereby becoming dependent on outside
aid.
In its approach to assistance in the context
o an armed conict, the ICRC ocuses on
the dynamics o household economicsand is concerned with both the means o
production to cover all the basic economic
needs o a household and the provision o
resources to meet those needs. Although
some needs are more important than
others ood and water, or instance,
are vital there is too oten a tendency
to orget, in crisis situations, that human
beings need more than just ood to live on. The ICRC thereore takes into account all
o a households basic economic needs,
such as housing, clothing, cooking utensils
and uel.
Depending on the degree o loss o
economic security, the ICRC provides one
o three types o assistance:
- economic support: to protect victims
vital means o production, so that they
can maintain their productive capacity
and economic sel-sufciency at the
household level as ar as possible;
- survival relie: to protect the lives o
conict victims by providing them with
the economic goods essential to theirsurvival when they can no longer obtain
these by their own means;
- economic rehabilitation: to support
conict victims in restoring their means
o production and, where possible,
regaining their sel-sufciency.
BorisHeger/ICRC
Goma, Democratic Republic o the
Congo. Sewing workshops are just
one way o helping people who have
no means o livelihood to regain a
measure o sel-sufciency.
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Halting the downward spiral...
The ICRC takes action the moment the early
signs o a crisis are detected, by reminding
the authorities o the protection due to
civilians under humanitarian law, including
respect or their persons and property. I
the population suers economic problems
through obvious impoverishment and its
means o production are decient or likely
to become inadequate, the ICRC intervenes
by providing economic support.
This could include ood distributions to
support the economy, aid designed todiversiy and intensiy production, or
the protection o livestock by veterinary
services. Where possible, it gives priority
to economic support activities. Other
types o assistance, however, are oten also
essential, because the ICRC is powerless to
prevent the process o impoverishment and
decapitalization generated by a conict.
When this happens, the ICRC providessurvival relie, by delivering essential
goods which can no longer be obtained by
the victims own means o production.
... and turning it upwards again
When things start to improve, the
population requires help to recover and
regain its sel-sufciency so that survival
relie operations and assistance caneventually be phased out. ICRC economic
rehabilitation programmes aim to
restore and reinorce means o production
through a range o activities, including
the distribution o seeds, agricultural
tools and shing tackle, the provision o
veterinary medicine or the rehabilitation
o irrigation systems, to help both resident
and displaced populations meet their ownneeds.
Over and out
In the past, emergency aid and
development programmes were regarded
as distinct and separate spheres, requiring
a dierent kind o response. There is now
increasing acceptance o the interrelation
between the two, leading to a broader
approach to humanitarian assistance. Thus,
when economic rehabilitation activities
are undertaken, a link is created with
development programmes allowing or a
smooth transition rom the emergency to
the development phases. Development
agencies must then take up the baton,investing resources and manpower so as
to reduce the structural vulnerabilities that
can encourage the outbreak o crises.
BorisHeger/ICRC
Darien province, Panama.
Distributions o seeds and agriculturaltools enable reugees to provide or
their own basic needs in the longer
term.
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What is meant by habitat?
Habitat is a term which
designates not merely the
boundaries o the home, but
its relationship with the widerenvironment and the people who
live in it.
Water and habitat
The ICRCs water and habitat programmes
aim to:
- ensure that victims o armed conict have
water or drinking and domestic use;
- to protect the population rom
environmental hazards caused by the
collapse o water and habitat systems.
Even in peacetime, millions o people
throughout the world have diiculty
gaining access to clean drinking water,proper housing and decent sanitation. The
problem is urther compounded in wartime,
when destruction o inrastructure and mass
displacement can expose millions more
to death and disease. In the heat o battle,
water sources may be deliberately targeted;
people may have to leave their homes and
seek water in hostile environments; or the
inrastructure that provided water may bedamaged by the ghting.
A dramatic increase in waterborne and
water-related diseases, such as diarrhoeal
diseases, typhoid and cholera, are the
immediate signs o the breakdown o
these lie-sustaining systems. Further down
the road, water shortages reduce ood
production, aggravate poverty and disease,
spur large migrations and undermine
a States moral authority. As water and
shelter are so essential to survival, ensuring
access to them is a priority or humanitarian
organizations.
In order to provide access to water, improve
hygiene levels and protect the environment,the ICRC carries out a range o activities:
- rehabilitation o water-treatment plants,
distribution networks or gravity water
systems linked to pumping stations;
- construction o wells, harnessing
and protection o water sources and
drainage systems, construction o water-storage containers;
- purication and distribution o drinking
water;
MarcBleich/ICRC
Eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia. An ICRC
water point provides clean water ordrinking and household needs.
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- construction and rehabilitation o
latrines and sewage-treatment systems;
collection and treatment o waste,
including hospital waste;
- renovation and reconstruction o health
acilities and schools;
- work on inrastructure in places o
detention to provide inmates with at
least the minimum water requirements
and ensure decent sanitation and living
conditions;
- setting up and organization o camps or
displaced people;
- introduction o vector-control
programmes, protection o oodstus,
decontamination o living spaces,
reduction o energy consumption, use o
alternative energy.
Health services
The aim o ICRC health programmes is to
ensure that the victims o conict have
access to essential preventive and curative
health care o a universally accepted
standard.
As a direct eect o conict, people can
be killed, injured or displaced, medical
structures destroyed and supply lines
disrupted. At the height o a conict, the
number o people who are wounded, all
prey to inectious disease or are aected
by malnutrition can reach epidemicproportions and quickly outstrip the
capacities o existing local health services.
Meanwhile, as an indirect consequence o
conict, the destruction o health acilities,
shortages o qualied sta and lack o
medical supplies can mean that the more
common health problems go unattended
and basic health services such as antenatal
care, vaccination programmes and electivesurgery all by the wayside. Thereore,
while rapid assistance is needed to attend
to the most urgent needs, support or the
existing health system is essential to ensure
that normal health services are restored or
maintained.
LeighDaynes/BritishRe
dCross
Children are vaccinated against polio in a camp or
displaced people, Darur, Sudan. During conict, regular
immunization programmes are disrupted, leaving the
population vulnerable to communicable diseases.
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The ull spectrum o health careICRC health-related activities range rom
reconstruction or rehabilitation o buildings
to management support, training o
medical sta, epidemiological surveillance,
revitalization o immunization services,
supply o essential medicines and medical
equipment, and the loan o expatriate
surgical/medical teams. To counter the
disruption o primary-health-care servicescaused by conict, the ICRC provides direct
assistance to existing health centres and
district hospitals, as ar as possible with the
active participation o the communities
concerned. In cases in which hunger or even
amine have taken root, intensive eeding
centres supervised by medical sta are set
up or children suering rom malnutrition.
Undernourished children, besides acingdeath rom starvation, are extremely
vulnerable to disease and inection.
War surgery The ICRCs long experience in treating
war casualties has given it considerable
expertise in this ield. ICRC surgeons
train expatriate medical sta who have
volunteered to work or the organization
and are new to the specic skills and
techniques required in the eld. They also
teach local doctors these skills to enable
them to take over and continue to treat thewounded once the ICRC teams have let. At
international level, courses and workshops
are organized each year, such as the H.E.L.P.
courses (Health Emergencies in Large
Populations), which enable the ICRC to
share its knowledge and experience. ICRC
doctors publish manuals on war surgery
and contribute to proessional periodicals.
Baghdad (Irak). A badly injured
12-year-old boy is comorted by his
aunt aer the rest o his amily were
killed in a bombing raid.
BenotSchaefer/ICRC
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In an unsae environment, gaining access
to the wounded and transporting them
to hospital can present considerable
difculties. The ICRC, in partnership with
the local National Society, develops
programmes or pre-hospital rst aid and
the evacuation and transportation o
injured patients.
The ICRC also builds National Societies
capacities to respond to emergency
situations by, or instance, running
irst-aid courses or volunteers, whichcover organization as well as lie-saving
techniques. The ICRC may provide National
Societies with communications equipment
and ambulances to assist them in preparing
or emergencies.
Health in prisons
ICRC medical sta accompany delegates
on their visits to places o detention in
order to assess the inmates health and
detect any consequences o ill-treatment,
whether physical or psychological. The
doctors and nurses who conduct these
visits are well versed in the speciic
problems o prison health, such as hygiene,
epidemiology, nutritional needs and
vitamin deciencies. They identiy priority
public health problems in prisons that
need to be controlled. When the risk o a
health problem in prison is so great thatthe response capacity o the penitentiary
health service is overwhelmed, the ICRC
implements vector-control programmes
to address such problems as tuberculosis,
HIV/AIDS and vitamin deciencies.
Addressing the health problems o prison
inmates also requires the training and
knowledge necessary to make propermedical assessments as to whether
detainees have been the victims o torture
or other orms o cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment.
Darur, Sudan. Surgery or conict-
related injuries requires specialized
training.ThierryGassmann/ICRC
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To walk and work again
During armed conlict, many people
become disabled either rom direct
causes such as anti-personnel mines or
ERW or rom indirect causes linked to
the collapse o health systems. Injuries
inicted by anti-personnel mines or ERW
can lead to amputation, severe disability
and psychological trauma. Such war
casualties require specialist surgery and
post-operative care in the rst instance
and rehabilitation and psychological
support in the longer term. In many cases,
the authorities do not have the means toprovide such care.
In 1979, the ICRC established a service
or the physical rehabilitation o war
victims. Since then, it has implemented
and/or assisted more than 85 projects in
36 countries. Hundreds o thousands o
people have received prostheses, orthoses,
crutches or wheelchairs, accompanied byphysiotherapy, helping them to regain some
measure o mobility and, in many cases,
economic independence. By providing
inancial, educational and technical
assistance, the ICRC aims to improve the
accessibility o rehabilitation services, to
enhance the quality o such services and to
ensure their long-term unctioning, since
people with conict-related disabilities willneed to have their appliances replaced and
repaired or the rest o their lives.
Not all governments have the means to
sustain these services, as rehabilitation is
still not considered a priority. The lack o
guaranteed long-term support by local
organizations has led to the creation o
the ICRC Special Fund or the Disabled. It
ensures the continuity o programmes ater
the ICRCs withdrawal rom a country and
supports physical rehabilitation centres in
developing countries.
Kuito, Angola. At a limb-tting centre run jointly by the
ICRC and the Ministry o Health, a patient tries out his
new-ound mobility. LenaEskeland/ICRC
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BorisHeger/ICRC
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PREVENTIVE ACTION
Making the rules known
The ICRCs preventive work is designed to
contain the harmul eects o conict and
keep them to a minimum. The very spirit
o international humanitarian law is to use
orce with restraint and in proportion to
the objectives. The ICRC thereore seeks to
promote the whole range o humanitarian
principles so as to prevent or at the very
least to limit the worst excesses o war.
Prevention through communicationIn its prevention programmes, the ICRC
targets in particular those people and
groups who determine the ate o victims
o armed conict or who can obstruct or
acilitate ICRC action. These groups include
armed orces, police, security orces and
other weapon bearers, decision-makers and
opinion-leaders at local and international
levels and, with an eye to the uture,teenagers, students and their teachers.
The strategy behind these activities
comprises three levels:
- awareness-building;
- promotion o humanitarian law through
teaching and training;
- integration o humanitarian law
into ofcial legal, educational and
operational curricula.
The ultimate aim is to inluence peoples
attitudes and behaviour so as to improve
the protection o civilians and other victims
in times o armed conlict, acilitate access
to the victims and improve security or
humanitarian action.
ThierryGassmann/ICRC
Sevastopol, Ukraine. Adolescents rom Red Cross branches
throughout the country take part in an Exploring
Humanitarian Law competition.
1
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Respect and ensure respect
States have a legal obligation to ensure
that their armed orces are ully versed in
the law o armed conict and universal
humanitarian principles at all levels in the
chain o command and that they apply
them in all situations. The ICRC promotes
the systematic integration o humanitarian
law and principles into military doctrine,
education and training and assists States in
this process.
Since the orces o law and order are oten
called upon to intervene in situations ointernal disturbances and violence, the
ICRC works to ensure that police and
security orces receive systematic training
in human rights and universal humanitarian
principles.
In many o todays armed conicts which
are mostly non-international weapon
bearers who may have little or no trainingare directly involved in the ghting. Recent
examples around the world have shown
how the prolieration o armed groups
has led to appalling abuses o the civilian
population and jeopardized the delivery
o humanitarian assistance. The ICRC
endeavours to establish relations and
build contacts with all the protagonists in a
conict. In this way, it can make the activitiesand working methods o the ICRC and Red
Cross and Red Crescent better known and
thus make it easier to reach the victims and
ensure the saety o humanitarian workers.
Making a diference
Humanitarian action has become the
domain o many organizations, groups
and individuals. As more entities respondto ever-pressing needs or humanitarian
assistance around the world, dialogue
is necessary to prevent duplication and
complication o eorts on the ground.
The ICRC thereore strives to make
decision-makers and opinion-leaders, such
as parliamentarians, members o NGOs and
specialized agencies, aware o its activities
in order to gain their support in ensuring
the implementation o international
humanitarian law. To this end, it engages
in humanitarian diplomacy, which includes
creating and maintaining a network o
contacts with a variety o humanitarian
actors and coordinating activities with
other actors in the eld.
Securing the uture
To reach tomorrows decision-makers and
opinion-leaders, the ICRC targets leading
universities to encourage the inclusion
o humanitarian law in courses oered in
particular by the aculties o law, political
science and journalism. As with the
military, the ICRCs approach is to work with
the authorities concerned, train trainers,produce resource materials and maintain
a network o contacts within the academic
world.
RalMaro/ICRC
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In an attempt to reach all segments o
society and to include humanitarian law
as part o basic education, the ICRC helps
ministries o education, National Societies
and other educational bodies to introduce
humanitarian law and related topics into
secondary-school programmes. The ICRC
has developed an education programme
or young people aged between 13 and 18
years to help them embrace humanitarian
principles in their daily lives and to apply
the principles when assessing events at
home and abroad. The programme, entitledExploring Humanitarian Law, consists o
a resource pack, with 30 hours o learning
activities, translated into 25 languages.
Since its launch in 2001, the programme
has been adopted or is being considered
or adoption in secondary-school curricula
by the authorities o about 90 countries.
Saer steps
The lethal pollution rom mines and ERW
is a legacy o conict that continues to kill
and maim civilians, block access to basic
necessities and hinder reconciliation, oten
or decades ater the last shot has been
red.
In aected countries, the ICRCs preventive
mine-action programmes seek to reduce
the suering o people living in mine/
ERW-contaminated areas. Its programmes
are exible and designed to meet the
requirements o each situation. They mayinclude providing sae access to water and
rewood or to sae play areas or children.
It is also important to raise awareness o
the problem in order to prevent accidents.
This may involve giving inormation about
contaminated local areas or alerting people
at risk to the danger o mines and ERW and
promoting sae behaviour.
Social research on war
To develop new prevention strategies, in
1999 the ICRC launched a programme o
research in collaboration with academic
institutions. The aim o the programme
was to gauge the views o civilians and
combatants on the many acets o war
and build greater respect or the rules that
regulate war. By promoting the results othis research see Roots o behaviour in
war on the ICRC website the ICRC seeks
to build local and international momentum
and expertise regarding preventive
strategies, and strengthen research into
international humanitarian law by major
research and academic establishments,
international and non-governmental
organizations and prevention specialists.
Yemeni schoolgirls learn about basic
humanitarian principles.
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MarkoKokic/Federation
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COOPERATION WITH NATIONAL SOCIETIES
Why cooperation?
The purpose o ICRC cooperation activities
is to enhance the capacity o National
Societies to ull their own responsibilities
as Red Cross or Red Crescent institutions
in providing humanitarian services in their
own countries. In particular, the ICRC assists
and supports National Societies in their
activities to:
- provide assistance to victims o armedconict and internal strie (preparedness
and response);
- promote international humanitarian
law and spread knowledge o the
Fundamental Principles, ideals and
activities o the Movement;
- restore contact between dispersedamily members as part o the
worldwide Red Cross and Red Crescent
tracing network.
Mutual support
In countries aected by conlict, the
National Societies and the ICRC work
together to mitigate human suering by
mounting joint assistance operations or
the victims. Where there is armed conict
or internal strie, the ICRC coordinates all
input by the various components o the
Movement, and supports the local National
Societies through various capacity-building
measures, mainly in the elds o operationalmanagement and the development o
human resources.
Because National Societies and the ICRC
share a responsibility to provide assistance
to victims o conict, they need each other
to accomplish this common mission. The
ICRC has developed substantial expertise
in the development and promotion ohumanitarian law and the Fundamental
Principles (see pp. 912), as well as a solid
experience o action in conicts, including
tracing which is a primary responsibility o
any National Society. This specic know-
how is valuable to National Societies, which
can count on the ICRCs support to enhance
their perormance in these areas.
BorisHeger/ICRC
Russian Red Cross volunteers help distribute mattresses to
displaced Chechens in Ingushetia.
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Conversely, the wide network and intimate
knowledge o local conditions which are
provided by the members o National
Societies are essential assets to the ICRC in
the planning and conduct o its operations.
The main areas o ICRC cooperation with
National Societies involve:
- providing technical expertise and
material and nancial assistance to
National Societies to help them develop
their skills, structures and workingrelationships so that they may carry out
their tasks and responsibilities eectively
and efciently;
- advising and supporting National Societies
on compliance with the conditions
or recognition as a Red Cross or Red
Crescent Society, on the adoption
and revision o their statutes and on
other legal matters, especially or the
implementation o or compliance with
humanitarian law;
- promoting the exchange o operational
inormation and coordination o
activities among the Movements
components so as to make the best useo available resources and contribute
to mutually supportive action or
the victims o armed conicts and
internal strie, and the beneciaries o
assistance, in accordance with the Seville
Agreement (see p. 10).
Cooperation activities are carried out in
close consultation and coordination withthe International Federation, which has the
lead role in assisting National Societies in
their overall development endeavours.
CarinaAppel/ICRC
Palestinian Red Crescent volunteersdistribute vouchers provided by
the ICRC to needy amilies, which
they can exchange or ood or other
essential items.
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WORKING WITH OTHERS
Relations with otherorganizations
Over the years, the number o agencies and
organizations working in the humanitarian
sphere has prolierated. While improving
the overall capacity to respond to crises,
this can also lead to conusion, duplication,
competition and misunderstanding.
In order to contribute to a more efcient
unctioning o the humanitarian endea-
vour, the ICRC consults and coordinateswith many international and non-
governmental organizations operating in
the same contexts, while maintaining its
independence. In its humanitarian activities
it attaches a great deal o importance
to ensuring that all such organizations
understand its approach and role so as
to oster harmonious cooperation and
complementarity in the eld.
Eorts have recently been undertaken to
establish a standardized approach and a
code o conduct or humanitarian work.
The ICRC is one o the parties behind the
"Code o Conduct or the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement and
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
in Disaster Relie", and supports all eortsaimed at ensuring quality assurance in the
eld.
Representing the victims
The ICRC attends the periodic meetings o
international and regional organizations,
either as an observer or as a guest, and
participates in debates on issues o
humanitarian concern in order to drawattention to the plight o victims and seek
diplomatic support or its humanitarian
activities. For instance, the ICRC has
observer status at the United Nations
General Assembly, cooperates with the UN
Ofce o the Coordinator or Humanitarian
Aairs (OCHA) and, as a Standing Invitee,
attends the meetings o the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee, a coordinating body
which includes the main UN humanitarian
agencies, the International Federation
and NGOs. The ICRC also coordinates its
activities with those o other organizations,as appropriate, including the Ofce o the
United Nations High Commissioner or
Reugees (UNHCR), the United Nations
Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the World Food
Programme (WFP) and the World Health
Organization (WHO).
In addition, the ICRC maintains regular
relations with:
- the European Union (EU);
- the Council o Europe;
- the Organization or Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE);
- the Arican Union (AU);
- the Organization o the Islamic
Conerence (OIC);
- the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM);
- the Organization o American States (OAS);
- the League o Arab States;
- the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
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Relations with the military
Recent years have seen a closer connection
being orged between military and
humanitarian action, even to the point
where it is no longer clear where one ends
and the other begins. The ICRC has raised
its concerns about these developments
in international orums, or it maintains
that the neutral and independent nature
o humanitarian action and the necessity
o providing protection and assistance to
all victims without discrimination make it
imperative that humanitarian activities be
conducted independently o political andmilitary considerations and objectives. At
the same time, the ICRC believes there is
much scope or constructive interaction
and cooperation between humanitarian
organizations and the military, which can
be enhanced by mutual consultation. It
continues to advocate nonetheless or
a clear distinction to be maintained in
substance and in appearance betweenmilitary and humanitarian operations (see
also Preventive action, p. 41).
Relations with the private sector
With the advent o globalization, the
private sector is playing an increasingly
prominent role
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