Laos: Safe access to water saves lives
People in rural Laos still risk their lives to fetch water for themselves and their crops. The ICRC is working hard to improve the situation. Most villagers store groundwater in plastic tanks. …
People in rural Laos still risk their lives to fetch water for themselves and their crops. The ICRC is working hard to improve the situation. Most villagers store groundwater in plastic tanks. …
Numerous documents on the ICRC website and elsewhere set out the ICRC's position on torture and ill-treatment, and the measures we are taking to put an end to these practices. But any discussion of …
The war has brought colossal suffering on millions of people in Syria. 13 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive. 5 million of them are children. Over 4 million people have fled …
The 32nd International Conference, held in Geneva from 8-10 December, brought together representatives from 169 Governments, 185 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International …
The latest newsletter from the ICRC delegation in Sri Lanka features a variety of articles, including updates on our work in the country, how we're addressing the needs of families of missing …
Ms Tabena is back with her only son after long years apart. He was one of 10 children rescued from different armies and armed groups whom the ICRC was able to return to their village in South Kivu …
Trainers demonstrate how to carry out an initial assessment of a trauma patient newly arrived in the emergency room. CC BY-NC-ND / ICRC / Rufas Rafi Sircar An ambulance arrives, its alarm blaring. A …
For more than half a century, the Fundamental Principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality have underpinned the global humanitarian work …
Nikishyne is a small village north-east of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. It suffered serious damage at the beginning of 2015 during fighting and almost everyone fled. They returned to find their homes …
Many schools in eastern Ukraine have been affected by the armed conflict, with some damaged by shelling. And the conflict is not yet over, so schools still have to protect both students and teachers. …
Try one of the following resources:
Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
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 international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.