Commissions & Spotlight Sessions
Commission I aims to mobilize States, working with their National Red Cross or Red Crescent
Society (National Society), to redouble their efforts to implement IHL obligations in good faith. The opening plenary of the commission will focus on prevention work and set the stage for thematic discussions that will take place in the spotlight sessions. With its prevention focus, the commission underpins the IHL resolution being tabled at the conference. Then, for four key topics in contemporary armed conflicts, each spotlight session aims to raise awareness, provide space for discussion and debate, and encourage members of the conference to adopt pledges to encourage concrete and meaningful action to improve respect for IHL.
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War in cities: Responding to civilian harm
Date: Tuesday 29 October
Time: 11.30-13.00
Venue: Room A-D (CICG)
Description
Armed conflicts are increasingly fought in urban areas, with complex and devastating effects on the civilian population. The humanitarian impacts of urban warfare are direct and indirect, immediate and long-term, visible and invisible. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement and other humanitarian organizations continue to reinforce their capacity to prevent and respond to the consequences of war in cities, but the scale and complexity of humanitarian needs extend beyond the technical, practical and financial capacities that can be mustered by a collective humanitarian response. Protecting civilians caught in urban combat starts with good faith compliance with IHL and a change in the way belligerents plan and conduct hostilities in populated areas. This session will focus on the humanitarian consequences of urban warfare, the Movement’s response to them, the challenges faced and States’ efforts to reduce and respond to civilian harm.
Format
In this session, Movement representatives (including National Societies operating in contexts affected by war in cities) and representatives from States and regional organizations will engage in a lively discussion on these issues.
Speakers
– Dr Myo Nyunt, President, Myanmar Red Cross Society
– Aida Elsayed, Secretary General, Sudanese Red Crescent
– Dr Younis Al-Khatib, President, Palestine Red Crescent Society
– Gloria Lombo Kihinga, Secretary General, Red Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Anne Bergh, Secretary General, Norwegian Red Cross
– Lt Col Martijn Schippers, Netherlands
– Ambassador Eugenia María Gutiérrez Ruiz, Deputy Director for Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Costa Rica
– Representative of the African Union (tbc) -
Promoting disability-inclusive interpretations and implementation of IHL in complementarity with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Date: Tuesday 29 October
Time: 11.30-13.00
Venue: Room Geneva (CCV)
Description
Persons with disabilities face specific barriers and risks resulting from military operations in armed conflict. This spotlight session aims to build on previous efforts to raise awareness about these specific barriers and risks and to promote recommendations that came out of regional consultations bringing together persons with disabilities, their representative organizations and armed forces, co-organized in 2022 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the International Disability Alliance, the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre and the European Disability Forum. Conference participants should be encouraged to submit pledges with a view to promoting disability inclusion in the interpretation and implementation of IHL and in humanitarian action.
Format
The spotlight session will have a dynamic and interactive format. After a keynote address by the President of the International Disability Alliance, participants will work in three groups on practical scenarios examining 1) the accessibility of warnings, evacuation and shelter; 2) increased awareness of armed forces in the conduct of military operations; and 3) the accessibility of humanitarian relief. In a final segment, participants will be able to announce their intentions in terms of making pledges on IHL and persons with disabilities.
Speakers
– Nawaf Kabbara, President, International Disability Alliance
– Veronica Ngum Ndi, Chief Executive Officer, Community Association for Vulnerable Persons
– Niklas Saxén, Senior Humanitarian Adviser, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland
– Dovilé Juodkaité, Board Member, European Disability Forum -
Protection of the natural environment in armed conflicts
Date: Tuesday 29 October
Time: 14.30-16.00
Venue: Room A-D (CICG)
Description
Societies affected by armed conflict are also coping with the global environmental and climate crisis, and armed conflicts are deepening the crisis by harming the environment further and reducing people’s resilience to growing climate risks. This session will highlight concrete measures that States, National Societies and parties to armed conflict can take to improve wartime environmental protection by ensuring better dissemination and implementation of the relevant rules of IHL.
States and National Societies are invited to share national law, policy and practice related to the protection of the environment in armed conflict during the session. Government representatives highlighted many relevant examples at the 2023 State Expert Meeting on IHL: Protecting the Natural Environment in Armed Conflicts. States and National Societies are encouraged to submit pledges, drawing on good practices such as these, to advance national IHL implementation with a view to strengthening the protection of the natural environment in war.
Format
In this session, opening presentations will detail the environmental impacts of war and examine the existing legal framework. A roundtable panel discussion will follow, during which States and National Societies will talk about measures they have put in place to advance national implementation of IHL rules protecting the environment. The floor will then be opened to the audience for statements from States, National Societies and Observers.
Speakers
– Marja Lehto, Ambassador (International Legal Affairs), Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, Member of the UN International Law Commission from 2017 to 2022 and Special Rapporteur for the topic “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts”
– Wim Zwijnenburg, Project Leader, Humanitarian Disarmament, PAX
– Lourdes Castro García, Presidential Adviser for Human Rights and IHL, Presidential Office for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, Colombia
– Gordon Muga, Senior Deputy Secretary, Disaster Risk Reduction Department, National Disaster Operations Centre, Ministry of Interior, Kenya
– Representative of the National IHL Committee, Kuwait (tbd)
– Solange Devenish, Legal Adviser, Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society -
Autonomous weapon systems
Date: Tuesday 29 October
Time: 14.30-16.00
Venue: Room Geneva (CCV)
Description
Addressing the humanitarian, legal and ethical risks posed by the unconstrained development and use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS) must be a priority on the global humanitarian agenda. The ICRC President and the UN Secretary-General have called on political leaders to urgently negotiate new international rules setting clear prohibitions and restrictions on AWS by 2026. This session will provide a unique forum for States and the Movement to exchange and share perspectives on this topic. The participants will explore the potential human cost, ethical concerns and challenges for compliance with IHL arising from the use of AWS in armed conflicts, hear updates from regional, international and other processes, including the CCW’s Group of Governmental Experts and the UN Secretary General’s report, and discuss the way forward towards the establishment of new legally binding rules.
Format
The session will begin with a video introduction, a technical briefing outlining the current state of AWS technology and an update on diplomatic processes. Following an interactive audience poll to gauge attitudes and concerns, a panel featuring States, National Societies, the ICRC and a technical expert will discuss the issues and challenges presented by AWS and review possible courses of action. The discussion will then be opened to questions and comments from the floor.
Speakers
– Gregor Schusterschitz, Chief Legal Adviser, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Austria
– Tahir Andrabi, Director General, Arms Control & Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan
– Kate Devitt, Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
– Richard Lennane, Disarmament Adviser, ICRC
The overall objective of Commission II is to reaffirm the continued value of the Fundamental
Principles and to deliberate on threats to humanitarian work carried out in accordance with these
principles. The Commission will also discuss the role of States in respecting and ensuring respect
for the Movement’s principled humanitarian action. Expected outcomes include:
- Refreshed commitment to the Fundamental Principles and reaffirmation of their continued
relevance in a changing world - Greater understanding among States of the threats to the Movement’s principled
humanitarian action and the very real consequences on the ground.
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Respect for neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action
Date: Wednesday 30 October
Time: 10.30-12.00
Venue: Room A-D (CICG) -
Working together to reduce the impacts of climate change on communities
Date: Wednesday 30 October
Time: 10.30-12.00
Venue: Room Geneva (CCV) -
Navigating pressing challenges in the context of migration: The importance of a principled humanitarian approach
Date: Wednesday 30 October
Time: 13.30-15.00
Venue: Room Geneva (CCV) -
Raising awareness about emerging challenges: Humanitarian protection risks in an increasingly digitalized world
Date: Wednesday 30 October
Time: 13.30-15.00
Venue: Room A-D (CICG)
Commission III will bring together the components of the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement (Movement) and States to enhance locally led action and local leadership in
humanitarian action and development, with a view to meeting the needs of communities in areas
such as disaster, conflict, climate change adaptation, health and well-being. It will examine ways
to strengthen and increase investment in the capacities and sustainability of local actors, including
but not limited to National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (National Societies), and
highlight the impact of their work at the community level. It will explore different aspects of locally
led action – auxiliary role of National Societies, role of volunteers, diversity of local actors,
partnerships, financing, risk sharing and coordination.
The Commission will explore ways in which States and other international actors can invest in
local and national capacities and reinforce the auxiliary role of their respective National Societies
in the humanitarian field in a complementary manner. It will identify the remaining key barriers to
enabling sustainable locally led action and propose solutions and actions for the future.
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The vital role of volunteers and community-based actors in social safety nets for community resilience
Date: Thursday 31 October
Time: 10.30-12.00
Venue: Room E-F (CICG) -
Working together with States and local authorities in managing and strengthening the auxiliary role across all levels
Date: Thursday 31 October
Time: 10.30-12.00
Venue: Room Geneva (CCV) -
Community health action and front-line preparedness: Learning from the past to shape the future
Date: Thursday 31 October
Time: 10.30-12.00
Venue: Room A-D (CICG) -
Overcoming barriers on financing and risk sharing to foster locally-led action
Date: Thursday 31 October
Time: 10.30-12.00
Venue: Room 4 (CICG)