Mesures prises:
The EU and its Member States are alarmed by the frequent lack of respect for the medical mission in times of armed conflict and other emergencies. They underline the unacceptable character of attacks against medical personnel or patients, as well as any impediment to access to health care.
In order to improve the respect for and protection of the medical mission in times of armed conflict or other emergencies, the EU and its Member States pledge:
– To support training on the rules protecting the provision of health care and the applicable sanctions to armed and security forces, as well as on rights and responsibilities of all health care personnel, including on ethical principles;
– To support awareness-raising and trust building activities to ensure respect for the medical mission and the emblems of the red cross and the red crescent or other identification for health care;
– To support relevant States and non-state actors implementing or reinforcing context-specific measures to enhance physical safety of health care personnel and infrastructure.
In line with their pledges, besides its broader actions in support of compliance with IHL, the EU and its Member States have taken various steps to support specifically the respect and protection of healthcare in armed conflicts.
The EU Member States provided specialised IHL training for members of their armed forces and civilian personnel, focused on the protection of the wounded and sick and healthcare services, in particular prior to their deployment to international operations. They also organised various conferences and seminars, often in cooperation with the national Red Cross, on the protection of health and medical care.
The EU and its Member States have been from the outset and continue to be a strong supporter of the landmark Security Council Resolution 2286. They also support the implementation of the UN Secretary General’s recommendations made in 2016 pursuant to the Resolution. In addition, at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, the EU and its Member States committed to promote and enhance efforts to respect and protect medical personnel, transports and facilities, as well as humanitarian relief personnel and assets against attacks, threats or other violent acts. These commitments have been reinforced through advocacy in various fora, for example at the high-level UN General Assembly Side Event co-organised by the EU in September 2018 on ‘Civilians Under Fire: Humanitarian Protection and Respect for IHL’, the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group (HLWG) on ‘Respect for International Humanitarian Law: the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel and Medical Workers in Armed Conflict’ on 17 October 2018, or the Arria Formula Meeting on ‘Protecting Medical Care in Armed Conflict – from Policy to Practice’ on 21 December 2018. Some Member States have been at the initiative of the adoption of the resolution 2286 (2016) and of 31 October 2017 political declaration on the protection of humanitarian and medical personnel.
The EU also dedicated particular attention to the protection of medical workers through its recurrent facilitation role of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) Resolution on the Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel.
In addition, in 2015 the EU supported a campaign of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Health Care in Danger (HCID) project: #Not a Target.
Moreover, the EU supports innovative approaches in addressing compliance with IHL by non-state actors. In this respect, the EU supports the activities of Geneva Call, which recently launched a Deed of Commitment on the protection of medical care in armed conflict.
The EU Member States strongly supported efforts aimed at ensuring the unimpeded delivery of health care in times of armed conflict and other emergencies and safeguarding the protection of health care personnel, facilities and medical transports. In this context, the EU provided support to relevant States and non-state actors in conflict affected regions, in particular health and medical services, training for local medical staff as well as expert assistance to local health care facilities.
