Law and policy

As part of its mission to protect and assist victims of war and other violence, the ICRC seeks to ensure respect for their lives, dignity, and rights. It does so by supporting different bodies – including authorities, armed forces, and police – to meet their legal obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) through technical expertise, targeted trainings, and widespread sensitization. Innovative technologies and approaches, such as Virtual Reality and computer games, are being successfully tested to reach different audiences and influence behaviour change to increase respect for IHL.

Immersive Film “If War Comes to You” Sheds Light on the Rules of War

Immersive Film “If War Comes to You” Sheds Light on the Rules of War

14 February 2024, Law and policy / New technologies

“If War Comes to You” takes audiences on a transformative journey, delving into the haunting possibility of armed conflict on their doorstep. This ...

Opening the Vault: ICRC Archives Test Machine Learning

Opening the Vault: ICRC Archives Test Machine Learning

16 July 2021, Data and digitalization / ICRC Innovates / Law and policy / New technologies

Stored within the vast underground of ICRC headquarters in Geneva is the historical equivalent of ...

ICRC’s Virtual Reality Unit puts International Conference participants into a virtual battlefield

ICRC’s Virtual Reality Unit puts International Conference participants into a virtual battlefield

17 December 2019, Behavior change / Law and policy / New technologies

On 10 December at the 33rd International Conference, a spotlight session entitled ‘Influencing Behavior to Enhance Respect for IHL’ was presented. The 90-minute ...

ICRC researches Virtual Reality as a behavior change tool

ICRC researches Virtual Reality as a behavior change tool

29 June 2019, Behavior change / Law and policy / New technologies

Building on past successes Much of the human experience is rendered in storytelling. Some stories resonate more than others and the details that ...

When innovation threatens lives – the eternal relevancy of International Humanitarian Law

When innovation threatens lives – the eternal relevancy of International Humanitarian Law

30 May 2019, Law and policy / New technologies

In humanitarian contexts, innovation is fundamentally about saving lives, but it can also be used for the opposite purpose. Innovative technologies for war ...

Let’s get real

29 April 2019, Behavior change / Law and policy

Virtual humanitarians enter the gamers’ battlefield. The ICRC posed a challenge to the makers of war games: why not introduce the rules of ...