Health care under threat in Colombia
Humanitarian challenges 2020 In 2020, the peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army) will be four years old. This …
Skip to main content
Search results
Colombia: Protecting dignity amid conflict
Editorial Christoph Harnisch Head of the ICRC Delegation in Colombia In 2019, explosive devices and mines killed or maimed a new victim nearly every day; people had to flee their homes or …
Myanmar: She is breaking gender stereotypes, engineering change
"When you mention the word engineer, the local communities immediately think that a man will show up," says Mary Hkawn Tsin, an engineer with the ICRC's team in Kachin State. Mary is part of the …
Myanmar: Khin Myat Myat Kyaw gets closer to realizing a lifelong dream
Life hasn't been easy for 24-year-old Khin Myat Myat Kyaw. She always wanted to earn money so that her parents could have an easier life, however, this seemed impossible until very recently. Now, the …
South Sudan: “If there’s peace tomorrow, then I will forgive”
In December 2013, barely two years after its independence, South Sudan sank into a bloody conflict. Hundreds of thousands of dead and injured later, a national unity government was formed on 22 …
The ICRC and the Blue Shield signed a Memorandum of Understanding
On 13 february, the ICRC and the Blue Shield have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to commit to work more closely together to ensure the protection of cultural property during armed conflict. …
Why the ICRC is talking about the Islamic laws of war in Australia
International humanitarian law (IHL) and the Islamic laws of war have more in common than you might think. Here’s why the ICRC takes the overlap of these two legal traditions seriously. The …
The ICRC in Azerbaijan in 2019
In 2019, the ICRC delivered humanitarian assistance to thousands of beneficiaries in communities affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Our colleagues carried out activities related to …
India: Experts from 19 countries discuss challenges to peacekeeping operations and IHL
The ICRC regional delegation for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives, in collaboration with the Centre for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi, organised an International Workshop on …
Sexual violence in Nigeria – Lives abandoned in the name of survival
Twice a week the man would pay Yagana for sex. He only stopped when she became pregnant with his child. "I didn't see him again after that. He told me the child wasn't his and didn't offer me any …
Didn’t find what you were looking for?
Try one of the following resources:
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.