Lebanon: Cooking with grace
Portraits from Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, has long been plagued by cycles of violence and hardship. To help the most vulnerable members of the …
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Gaza: A wish that came true for little Owais
Owais Ighbari is a brave little boy. The three-year-old has had a rough life. Born with spina bifida, he suffers from weakness in his lower limbs. Desperately seeking help, his family consulted many …
Walk the talk: Assessing the application of humanitarian principles on the ground
The first expert panel of ICRC's Research and Debate Cycle on Principles Guiding Humanitarian Action tackled the topic of the application of the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, …
Cameroon/CAR: A mother and daughter reunited after an agonizing year of separation
After a year-long separation, Pilera, a seventeen-year-old girl from the Central African Republic, has been able to find her mother in Cameroon, thanks to the efforts of the ICRC and the Cameroon Red …
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Tackling child recruitment by armed groups
Children continue to be recruited into the ranks of fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), despite being protected by law. The ICRC is striving to tackle this problem and to help …
Violence in north-east Nigeria spreads suffering across borders
As well as bringing suffering to people in Nigeria, violence in the north-east of the country is having an unprecedented impact in neighbouring countries. "The deteriorating situation in north-east …
Syria: 2014 saw escalating human cost and humanitarian challenges
The figures for 2014 speak volumes about the plight of Syrians and the consequent demands placed on humanitarian organizations like the ICRC. With no end to the current crisis in sight, the extreme …
Syria: Humanitarian situation deteriorating
Just back from Syria, the ICRC's former head of delegation in Damascus Boris Michel describes the growing needs of the population. Four years of conflict have taken their toll on essential …
Armenia: Families of missing persons renovate homes with ICRC loans
Families of missing persons are finally able to renovate their run-down homes, thanks to loans from the ICRC and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia. Seventy families have already taken advantage …
What treaties make up IHL? What is customary IHL?
Extract from ICRC publication "International humanitarian law: answers to your questions" Contemporary IHL came into being with the original Geneva Convention of 1864. It has evolved in stages, to …
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ICRC library
Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
IHL treaties
International humanitarian law is based on a number of treaties, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, and a series of other instruments.
Customary IHL
Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.