Actions taken:
As pledged and in line with its mandate under national and international law, the German Red Cross (GRC) contributes to strengthening compliance with IHL, in particular by disseminating and assisting the German government in disseminating IHL and by cooperating with it to ensure respect for IHL and to protect the distinctive emblems.
The German Red Cross serves as the Secretariat of the German National IHL Committee (which has a dual function as an advisory body to the GRC Presidential Board). In that role, it has consistently contributed to promoting and strengthening the role and work of the German National IHL Committee. In particular, it has supported the compilation, analysis and presentation of national practice on the implementation of IHL in the form of a national implementation report (“Document on the implementation of IHL in the German Legal System”), last published in English in October 2020. It has since used the report in various dissemination measures, such as in the teaching of IHL and its implementation into German domestic law. The GRC continues to support relations between the German National IHL Committee and other National IHL Committees as well as their exchange in regional and universal fora. It exchanges best practice and experience on the functioning of and National Society contributions to the work of National IHL Committees with other National Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, including through the European regional network of National Society legal advisers (ELSG).
In its dissemination measures, the GRC is committed to promoting respect for IHL through positive examples and follows this approach in its internal and external dissemination activities, including its public communication. As part of its “Dialogue Forum”, it offered a digital breakfast talk on IHL and the German Red Cross’ mandate in IHL for members of the German Parliament (Bundestag) and their staff in 2022.
In cooperating in promoting and disseminating IHL within and with the armed forces, the GRC has continued and updated its long-standing cooperation with the German armed forces / Bundeswehr. In particular, it has transformed its summer school on IHL in 2022 by initiating a cooperation with the Bundeswehr and has continued to organize a joint yearly conference on IHL. It consulted with the German armed forces on IHL training for Ukrainian armed forces legal advisors.
Dissemination activities also included contributions on IHL as well as the foundations of IHL relevant to National Societies’ mandate vis-à-vis personnel involved in crisis management and preparedness.
The GRC has systematically digitalized its dissemination materials and supported the development of innovative forms of dissemination using digital technology, such as the “If War Comes to You” interactive experience, as well as blended learning approaches. It has created videos on various IHL topics which were published on different social media platforms. In 2023, it has implemented a 2-week multimedia IHL campaign in which messages concerning the fundamental rules of IHL were broadcasted on social media, news websites and digital screens in over 230 train stations across Germany.