International Committee of the Red Cross

Perspectives

Contemporary humanitarian action put to the test of forgotten principles

The emergence of modern humanitar­ian aid combines the spontaneous action that is driven by solidarity in times of conflicts and natural catastrophes with the establishment of new standards. These standards...

Virginie Troit

Editorial Focus

International humanitarian law at a crossroads

At the end of the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016, diplomats and heads of state were agreed on the goal of “upholding the norms that safeguard...

Clara Egger

Focus

International humanitarian law, State sovereignty and the erosion of the humanitarian consensus: the end of humanitarianism?

This article examines the dilution of the legal framework on which humanitarian action has historically been based, primarily through the prism of international humanitarian law and related challenges posed to...

Duncan McLean - Michiel Hofman

Focus

International humanitarian law and the war in Ukraine: the International Committee of the Red Cross and humanitarian policies

The author, undoubtedly one of the best experts on the International Committee of the Red Cross, explains that this institution is active in the Ukraine war as the guardian of...

David P. Forsythe

Focus

Prisoners of war: high-intensity warfare’s blind spot?

For several years now, a new dynamic has been emerging, possibly heralding a paradigm shift: the resurgence of high-intensity inter-state wars, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Historically...

Philippe Ryfman

Perspectives

The invention of impartiality: the history of a humanitarian principle, from a legal, strategic and algorithmic perspective

Joint publication by Humanitarian Alternatives and the Centre for Reflection on Humanitarian Action and Knowledge (CRASH) / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) The principle of impartiality, which is often reduced to...

Joël Glasman

Editorial Focus

About the critical junctures in humanitarian history

If ever there was an expression seemingly devised for the study of humanitarian action, the one that fits the bill perfectly is “critical juncture” – a series of events which,...

Clara Egger

Perspectives

Biafra: at the heart of postcolonial humanitarian ambiguities

In short, this is where it all began: history and legend, ambiguities and dilemmas, principles and their limits. Drawing on her recent book on Biafra, Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps looks back at...

Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps

Reportage

In the closed door of Eastern Ghouta

Abdulmonam Eassa was born in Damascus in 1995. Until early 2018 he was based in Hammouria, Eastern Ghouta, in the agricultural countryside near Damascus, 13 km north-east of the capital. When...

Abdulmonam Eassa

Focus

The ICRC and partnerships with the private sector: evolution and ethical considerations

Jessica Fleurinor and Caroline Putnam Cramer invite us to an extension of the first part of our Focus theme. The International Committee of the Red Cross effectively did not have...

Caroline Putman Cramer  - Jessica Fleurinor 

Interviews Transitions

Interview with Jan Egeland: “We should be as ambitious in protection of civilians as we have become in assistance”

Former United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland is Secretary General of the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council. Last January, he gave us an interview during...

Jan Egeland

Reportage

Humanitarian Visa d’Or of the ICRC, 2011-2017: seven years of reflection

The regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in France created in 2011 the “Humanitarian Visa d’Or (Gold Visa)” in partnership with the prestigious International Festival of...

collectif