Cordula Droege

The Global #IHL initiative goes to Central Asia!
Ambassador-at-Large of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reaffirms strong to upholding international humanitarian law, learning the lessons of World War II, and protecting human dignity, inspiration, and justice in all conflicts.

Legally defining and classifying armed conflicts has real-world consequences. Warring parties must know and respect international humanitarian law and preserve humanity in the chaos of war. In this video, the ICRC's Chief Legal Officer, Cordula Droege, explains how a war or “armed conflict” is defin How is an “armed conflict” legally defined and why do definitions matter?

What is the legal definition of an "armed conflict"? This is more than theory; answer to this question impacts real lives and responsibilities for warring parties, states and non-state armed groups.
Watch this explainer by @corduladroege.bsky.social

We cannot let artificial intelligence in military applications develop without human oversight and regulation, lest algorithms replace human judgment and control in life and death decisions.
@ICRC statement at #UNGA80:
icrc.org/en/statement/w…x.com/ICRC/status/.../1

You can find information on the Global Initiative to galvanise political commitment for #IHL at www.upholdhumanityinwar.org/documentation, including
✅ Workstreams
✅ Next events and consultations
✅ Statements from states in previous consultations

www.un.org/sg/en/conten...

World leaders united in defence of international humanitarian law to uphold humanity in war (21 September 2025) Alarmed by widespread violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in conflicts around the world and the resulting unconscionable human (…)

In the face of egregious and widespread violations of international humanitarian law in conflicts around the world, we need to act. Leaders of 🇿🇦🇧🇷🇨🇳🇫🇷🇯🇴🇰🇿 together with @ICRC urge States and the international community to uphold the #GenevaConevntions

www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-fo...

Advanced IHL Seminar for Academics and Policymakers

🌍Honoured to open the 16th #IHL Seminar with academics & policymakers at @ICRC.
With 130 armed conflicts worldwide, this dialogue is vital to strengthen compliance, address new technologies of war, and protect people from the human cost of conflict.
🔗 bit.ly/16AdvancedIH...

DIRCO and ICRC call for stronger political commitment to uphold IHL across Africa On World Humanitarian Day, the Deputy Minister of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Alvin Botes, alongside the Head of the International Committee of the Re...

The Global initiative to galvanize political commitment for #IHL goes to Africa!
🙏to South Africa for a great gathering of AU ambassadors and high commissioners reaffirming the collective responsibility to promote, respect and ensure respect for IHL.
rb.gy/kussag

Philippines: States in Asia Pacific region commit to greater support for rules of war during regional conference

The Global initiative to galvanize political commitment for #IHL goes to Asia-Pacific!
🙏to the Republic of the Philippines for a great regional conference and to participants States to commit to greater support for rules of war. www.icrc.org/en/news-rele...

ICRC president:
"I ask you: What happens to societies – to the world – if we fall prey to the belief that might alone makes right? When we disregard the rule of law, and pursue victory at any cost?"
www.icrc.org/en/statement...

ICRC president: The next 76 years of the Geneva Conventions will be shaped by the choices leaders make today

Whether the #GenevaConventions are respected in today's conflicts or not is a political choice of warring parties and of all states, especially those who support one party or another. It is also their responsibility.
www.icrc.org/en/statement...

The four #GenevaConventions were adopted on 12 August 76 years ago.
@ICRC
is updating its Commentaries to the Conventions (updates to the first three Conventions on our website or our IHL App).
The Commentary to the Fourth Geneva will be published soon 👇

80 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A call to eliminate nuclear weapons

So many ‚never again‘ are in peril today.

The only credible way to avoid nuclear war is the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

80 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A call to eliminate nuclear weapons www.icrc.org/en/statement...

Israel and the occupied territories: ICRC president calls for urgent collective action by states to end abhorrent suffering in Gaza

#Gaza:
All States have an obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law #IHL, including by ensuring that the arms they transfer do not contribute to violations of IHL. 

www.icrc.org/en/statement...

Can you imagine a day without internet or telecommunication? For civilians in armed conflict zones, losing access to the internet or the ability to make a call isn’t just inconvenient: it's life-threatening. Under the rules of war, parties to conflict must not interfere with civilians’ access to connectivity.

When does disrupting connectivity cross a legal line at war?

From bombing a communication tower to national shutdowns, connectivity disruptions are frequent in armed conflicts.

Read more about the limits #IHL imposes on such acts: http://ms.spr.ly/63324sBMz2

"The brutal conflict in eastern DRC has trapped generations of civilians in a decades-long cycle of suffering, death and displacement. This declaration mediated by Qatar, combined with an agreement signed between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington DC last month, creates an important opportunity for the region to chart a new future rooted in peace and stability.”

DR Congo | We stand ready to help facilitate the release of people detained in relation to the conflict under a declaration agreed between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Congo River Alliance/M23 Movement (AFC/M23).

Read more: ms.spr.ly/63320sDR52

The number of surgical admissions for weapon wounds recorded at ICRC-supported hospitals in 2024 increased by almost 50% compared to 2023.

In 2024, we supported over 1,400 hospitals and health facilities, many of them in conflict affected areas.

Under the laws of war, the wounded and sick, medical staff, and hospitals are all protected.

Learn more about our health related activities 👉🏼 www.icrc.org/en/what-we-d...

Nigeria: “We go to bed hungry sometimes for two to three days”: Hunger deepens as farmers in conflict-affected northeast struggle to survive Every morning, a procession of villagers make their way from Dikwa, a town in northeastern Nigeria to farmlands, often several kilometres away, where they are able to cultivate crops for a few hours a...

Armed conflict, hunger and floods have plunged over 3.7 million civilians in northeast Nigeria into a relentless nightmare, where, for some communities, the search for food has become their daily struggle.

🎥 New media footage to download 👇🏼

www.icrcnewsroom.org/story/en/105...

ICRC voices: Life and Death in the Red Cross Field Hospital Skip to main content In a series of online articles, the ICRC team in London interviews British and Irish delegates working across the world. This month, we speak to Rieke Hayes, a physiotherapist from Ireland. After training in the NHS, she joined the ICRC in 2018, and has deployed to North Korea, Ukraine, Iraq, and Yemen.

Irish physiotherapist Rieke Hayes spent six weeks in Gaza, facing relentless mass casualty events, stray bullets, and shortages of vital equipment.

Her harrowing first-hand account reveals the reality of treating patients at the Red Cross Field Hospital 👇🏽

ms.spr.ly/63326sEEl0

Thank you @janethanderson.bsky.social and
@svdberg.bsky.social for inviting me to talk about the need to preserve healthcare in armed conflict and the IHL rules that ensure that they are respected and protected.

We must recommit to international law and humanitarian values: uphold bans, clear minefields, help survivors. Only through sustained global unity will we protect civilians from these hidden killers. Act now before it’s too late.

The Anti-Personnel Landmine Convention is one of the most successful treaties of the last years, having saved millions of lives, and led to the destruction of millions of stockpiles. Still, landmines continue to kill and maim. Weakening norms means ruining lives.

ICRC president: Civilians will pay the price if global commitment to ban landmines allowed to fracture

ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric warns that if the global commitment to banning landmines fractures, civilians—especially those in conflict zones—will bear the brunt. Withdrawing from humanitarian law while preparing for war is the wrong choice.
www.icrc.org/en/news-rele...

Gaza now worse than hell on earth, humanitarian chief tells BBC The situation in Gaza surpasses "any acceptable, legal, moral, and humane standard", the ICRC tells BBC's Jeremy Bowen.

We are watching a people entirely stripped of its human dignity

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Cluster munitions kill men, women and children indiscriminately, long after conflicts have ended.
Their production and use should be ended.

We face not only a crisis of compliance with international humanitarian law #IHL , but of our collective conscience.
If you don't defend #IHL today, you are accepting a world where wars are fought with increasing barbarity and disregard for our shared humanity.
t.co/ElmgOaUb9g

Huge thanks to all participants, expert speakers, and our dedicated co-chairs Luxembourg, Mexico and Switzerland for their leadership and support. Your engagement gives this process its strength.
Next up: the second consultation of the ICT workstream later this year.
@lucdockendorf.bsky.social

Discussions revealed areas of emerging convergence, especially on the need to:
✔️ Protect medical services & humanitarian ops
✔️ Safeguard civilian critical infrastructure & data
✔️ Address civilian involvement in ICT operations

The ICT workstream is about fostering shared understandings on how #IHL imposes limits to ICT activities in armed conflict — with the goal of safeguarding civilians from the risks of harm.

As warfare becomes increasingly digitalized, civilians face new risks:
- Disruption of critical civilian infrastructure and data
- Spread of harmful information
- Involvement of civilians & tech infrastructure in ICT activities