Protecting civilians in good faith: a joint symposium on the updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

February 17, 2026 11 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / IHL / Law and Conflict / Protecting civilians in good faith: a joint symposium on the updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention Jean-Marie Henckaerts

Following five years of research and consultations, the ICRC published a new, updated Commentary on the ...

Sixty years on: why the Fundamental Principles must be lived, not just remembered

October 23, 2025 13 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / History / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian diplomacy / Humanitarian Principles / IHL / Law and Conflict Pierre Krähenbühl

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross ...

Protecting civilians in good faith: the updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

October 21, 2025 10 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / IHL / Law and Conflict Jean-Marie Henckaerts

Following five years of research and consultations, the ICRC has published a new, updated Commentary ...

Why we must defend humanitarian storytelling in a divided world

September 9, 2025 10 mins read Analysis / Communications / Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian Principles / IHL Najum Ul Saqib Iqbal

For as long as humans have existed, stories have been our bridge to one another. ...

AI, war and (in)humanity: the role of human emotions in military decision-making

February 20, 2025 11 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Artificial intelligence in military decision-making / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / IHL / New Technologies / Weapons Joanna L D Wilson

Contemporary armed conflicts are increasingly complex and, through rapid technological development, increasingly remote. This calls ...

Principles under pressure: have humanitarian principles really stood the test of time?

July 11, 2024 12 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Humanitarian principles in contemporary armed conflict / Special Themes Olivier Ray

Recent conflicts have brought to light the jarring personal dilemmas humanitarian workers confront and provoked ...

De-dehumanization: practicing humanity

June 27, 2024 15 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Principles / Humanitarian principles in contemporary armed conflict / IHL / Special Themes / The Geneva Conventions at 75 Natalie Deffenbaugh

There is today an idea of a single humanity, with each member equally valued, and ...

‘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 ...

Vincent de Paul: A groundbreaking humanitarian

August 14, 2019 11 mins read History / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Religion Keltoum Irbah

More than 350 years after his death in 1660, the life and trailblazing humanitarian work ...

The Power of Humanity: On Being Human Now and in the Future

July 30, 2019 12 mins read Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Identity / The most read blog posts in 2019 Hugo Slim

In December 2019 the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement will meet in Geneva ...

Challenging patriarchy: gender equality and humanitarian principles

July 18, 2019 13 mins read Gender / Gender and conflict / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Sexual Violence / The most read blog posts in 2019 Ricardo Fal-Dutra Santos

This blog seeks to explore the ongoing discourse in the humanitarian sector that portrays gender ...

Ethics as a source of law: The Martens clause and autonomous weapons

November 14, 2017 12 mins read Analysis / Autonomous Weapons / Law and Conflict / New Technologies Rob Sparrow

Ethics evolves, the law changes. In this way, moral progress may occur. Yet the relation ...