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 ...

‘Please, don’t tell anyone!’: healthcare stigma in the COVID-19 era

November 12, 2020 10 mins read Analysis / COVID-19 and conflict / Health Care / Humanitarian Action / Sexual Violence Paola Forgione

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers in conflict zones and peaceful countries ...

COVID-19 vaccines and IHL: ensuring equal access in conflict-affected countries

November 5, 2020 10 mins read Analysis / COVID-19 and conflict / Health Care / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Alexander Breitegger

As countries struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s focus is on developing a ...

COVID-19 and its impact on persons with disabilities

September 17, 2020 7 mins read Analysis / COVID-19 and conflict / Health Care / Humanitarian Action Jess Markt

Jess Markt, ICRC Disability Sport & Inclusion Advisor, is an internationally-acclaimed wheelchair basketball coach who ...

Palliative care, COVID-19 and humanitarian action: it’s time to talk.

July 2, 2020 14 mins read Analysis / COVID-19 and conflict / Health Care / Humanitarian Action Rachel Coghlan

For countries already gripped by war or disaster, COVID-19 is magnifying existing challenges to healthcare. ...