A) Objectives of the pledge:
Austria strongly supports dissemination of and exchange on IHL in order to increase knowledge of the applicable rules and the latest developments in this field.
For this purpose, Austria and the Austrian Red Cross pledge to organise annual academic seminars on specific IHL topics. In order to foster a European security culture firmly based on the respect for IHL, and as a network member of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), Austria also pledges to organise two annual IHL training courses for Austrian and international military personnel in cooperation with the ESDC.
This pledge relates to the theme of Commission I at the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent (RCRC Conference) entitled “Building a Global Culture of Respect for International Humanitarian Law”. It also contributes to the implementation of the Resolution “Toward a universal culture of compliance with international humanitarian law”, in particular OP5 which “strongly encourages States to intensify their efforts to disseminate IHL.”
B) Action plan:
Austria and the Austrian Red Cross will organise, until the next ICRC Conference in 2028, at least two academic seminars on a specific IHL topic together with Austrian universities. The target audience for these seminars are professionals and volunteers in the field of IHL, academia, journalists and opinion leaders.
Austria will also organise two annual IHL training courses for Austrian and international military personnel in cooperation with the ESDC.
C) Indicators for measuring progress:
Progress will be measured by:
- Number of seminars and training courses organised;
- Number of participants in these seminars and training courses.
D) Resource implications:
The human and financial resources required for the organisation of the seminars and training courses will be provided by the organising institutions mentioned above.