Protecting the innocent, the land, and the body: traditional sources of restraint on landmine use

March 23, 2023 11 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Influencing Behaviour in Armed Conflict Henrique Garbino & Matthew Breay Bolton

What drives restraint in armed conflict? Recent studies have examined different factors contributing to restraint ...

War, law and humanity: the role of the ICRC in international armed conflicts

February 16, 2023 12 mins read Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Melina Fidelis

The international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen the involvement of several humanitarian organizations on the ground – including the International ...

Five types of humanitarian influence

February 7, 2023 12 mins read Analysis / History / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian diplomacy Hugo Slim

Humanitarian action involves words as well as deeds, influence as well as operations. Every year ...

‘Back to basics’ with a digital twist: humanitarian principles and dilemmas in the digital age

February 2, 2023 14 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Humanitarian principles in contemporary armed conflict / New Technologies Pierrick Devidal

The digital transformation has been a key vector of progress for the humanitarian sector. It ...

The translator is a traitor: translation in humanitarian response

December 20, 2022 10 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action Rasha Mahmoud Abdel Fattah

Translation has often been regarded as an act of ‘betrayal’, for the impossibility of transferring the exact same messages between different languages. Yet, ...

The art of influencing: how to maximize impact in a complex, interconnected world

December 8, 2022 11 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian diplomacy Nicholas Hawton

With increasing pressures on the humanitarian environment – shrinking space and shrinking funds first among them – the need to influence authorities and ...

Towards a ‘digital emblem’? Five questions on law, tech, and policy

November 3, 2022 10 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / New Technologies Tilman Rodenhäuser & Mauro Vignati

Doctors who provide care for the war wounded and ICRC delegates who work in areas ...

What does ‘back to basics’ mean for gender and the fundamental principles?

September 1, 2022 13 mins read Analysis / Gender / Gender and conflict / Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Humanitarian principles in contemporary armed conflict / Law and Conflict Ariana Lopes Morey

The recently-launched ICRC blog series ‘Back to basics: humanitarian principles in contemporary armed conflict’ aims ...

Taking action, not sides: the benefits of humanitarian neutrality in war

June 21, 2022 8 mins read Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Humanitarian principles in contemporary armed conflict Fiona Terry

In this post – part of our new series ‘Back to basics: humanitarian principles in ...

Drones and distrust in humanitarian aid

July 22, 2021 12 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / New Technologies Faine Greenwood

Drones are an increasingly common tool in humanitarian aid, but issues revolving around public perception and trust continue to slow their global rollout ...

Standing together: the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations

May 21, 2021 7 mins read Analysis / Climate change, conflict and humanitarian action Tessa Kelly, Catherine-Lune Grayson & Amir Khouzam

Today’s climate and environmental crises threaten the very survival of humanity. The Climate and Environment ...

A humanitarian duty to integrity

April 8, 2021 7 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / New Technologies Sean McDonald

The digital transformation of humanitarian operations raises (at least) two existential issues: one, how do humanitarians preserve what is unique about their work ...