Reaffirming the obligation to protect medical facilities and support their functioning

November 20, 2025 15 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / Health Care / Health care / IHL / Related bodies of law / Special Protections / Special Themes / Upholding humanity in war: the Global IHL Initiative Supriya Rao & Alexander Breitegger

Restrictions on movement and access to medical supplies have become an often-unseen threat to health ...

Six ways IHL protects mental health

October 16, 2025 12 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Emerging Voices / Generating Respect for IHL / Health Care / IHL / Social Protection / Special Protections / Special Themes Giulia Bosi

The impact of armed conflict on mental health is increasingly evident. According to data from ...

International humanitarian law and connectivity disruptions during armed conflict

July 3, 2025 13 mins read Access / Analysis / Communications / Conduct of Hostilities / Health Care / Health care / Humanitarian Action / IHL / New Technologies / Related bodies of law / Social Protection Tilman Rodenhäuser

“Without information and telecommunication, people don’t know where to go for safety,” the ICRC reported ...

Reaffirming IHL’s specific protection of hospitals

May 27, 2025 15 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / Health Care / Humanitarian Principles / IHL / Special Protections / Special Themes / Upholding humanity in war: the Global IHL Initiative Supriya Rao & Alexander Breitegger

In today’s armed conflicts, hospitals are increasingly being attacked or misused for military purposes, undermining ...

Hospitals under fire: legal and practical challenges to strengthened protection

March 6, 2025 11 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Emerging Voices / Health Care / IHL / Special Protections / Special Themes Khang Phan & Thao Nguyen

Amid the devastation of armed conflict, hospitals stand as fragile sanctuaries, overwhelmed by demand and ...

Conceive, standardize, integrate: the past, present, and future of adopting distinctive emblems and signs under IHL

September 12, 2024 10 mins read Analysis / Communications / Generating Respect for IHL / Health Care / History / IHL / New Technologies / Special Protections / Technology in Humanitarian Action Samit D’Cunha

When the very first Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864, it was the culmination of ...

Forced to report: mandatory reporting of sexual violence in armed conflict

July 4, 2024 14 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Gender / Gender and conflict / Health Care / IHL / Sexual Violence / Social Protection / Special Themes Maria Carolina Aissa de Figueredo

Over the last decade, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its Red ...

What are the transformative potentials of sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian assistance: a feminist inquiry

April 18, 2024 12 mins read Access / Analysis / Gender / Gender and conflict / Health Care / Health care / Humanitarian Action / Sexual Violence / Social Inclusion / Social Protection / Special Themes Peixuan Xie

From frontline female combatants with the People’s Defence Force in Myanmar to queer Syrian refugees ...

Armed conflict and the pandemic accord: what states should do next for conflict-affected populations

September 6, 2023 10 mins read Analysis / Health Care / Health care / History / Humanitarian Action / Social Protection Micaela Serafini & Avigail Shai

Armed conflict and other humanitarian emergencies disrupt health systems in many ways: making healthcare less ...

COVID-19 vaccine: three considerations for equitable access within countries at war

March 24, 2021 9 mins read Analysis / COVID-19 and conflict / Health Care / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Charles Deutscher

Equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines will be the defining global issue of ...

GCIII Commentary: I’m a woman and a POW in a pandemic. What does the Third Geneva Convention mean for me?

December 8, 2020 11 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / Gender and conflict / Generating Respect for IHL / Health Care / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Sexual Violence Heleen Hiemstra & Vanessa Murphy

While a woman’s experience in a prisoners of war (POW) camp may not differ drastically ...

Sexual violence in armed conflict: can we prevent a COVID-19 backslide?

November 25, 2020 9 mins read Analysis / COVID-19 and conflict / Gender / Gender and conflict / Health Care / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Sexual Violence May Maloney

Three months into the pandemic, the ICRC’s Head of Addressing Sexual Violence published a call ...