Actions taken:
The EU and its member States underline that proper training in, and dissemination of, international humanitarian law is required to ensure better compliance with international humanitarian law in time of armed conflict.
In line with the EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with international humanitarian law and the 2007 European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid, the EU and its Member States pledge:
– to continue their efforts in promoting dissemination and training in international humanitarian law in third countries, including in peacetime, in particular to national authorities, armed non-state actors and humanitarian actors.
The EU Member States pledge:
– to continue their efforts in promoting dissemination and training in international humanitarian law inside the EU, in particular to military and civilian personnel, involved in crisis management operations.
– to continue their efforts to advocate strongly and consistently for the respect of international law, including international humanitarian law.
In undertaking these efforts, the EU Member States will consider working with their respective National Red Cross Societies which, under the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, have a recognized role in assisting their governments in disseminating international humanitarian law.
The EU and its Member States are concerned by the threats posed by anti-personnel landmines, cluster munitions, improvised explosive devices and explosive remnants or war.
The EU and its Member States therefore pledge:
– to advocate as appropriate in support of international instruments seeking to address humanitarian hazards of explosive remnants of war, cluster munitions, improvised explosive devices and anti-personnel landmines;
– to encourage as appropriate States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and the Convention on Cluster Munitions to make timely reports in accordance with the relevant provisions of these treaties.
The EU and its Member States are concerned that conflict deprives children of parents, care-givers, basic social services, health care and education.
The EU and its Member States therefore pledge:
– to implement the EU Guidelines on Children and armed Conflict and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 with regard to the protection of children affected by armed conflict;
– to promote the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation of children affected by armed conflicts.
The dissemination of IHL within the armed forces and other structures with responsibilities in this field, as well as within the civil society, has been one of the permanent priorities of EU Member States. Training in IHL took place at all levels of national defence services of EU Member States, e.g. as part of a mandatory annual training or in the context of a specific pre-deployment training for military and security forces deployed to international missions and operations. In some EU Member States, courses on IHL have been incorporated in the curriculum of police officers, who also regularly participate in seminars and workshops on IHL issues organised i.a. by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
The EU Member States have put in place or continued using relevant inter-institutional processes and mechanisms such as national committees on IHL as means of promoting the importance of this body of law within governmental institutions, as well as of monitoring the implementation of IHL at the national level. The EU Member States have also organized regional events aimed at fostering peer to peer cooperation and sharing useful information, in support of enhancing the activity of national authorities in this field.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) remained an important partner in providing IHL training and dissemination and continued to receive funding from the EU and from its Member States for that purpose. National Red Cross societies, in cooperation with EU Member States, worked in particular on the dissemination of basic norms of IHL and produced manuals and other pedagogical and information materials, organising regular courses on IHL as well as events focused on IHL dissemination.
The EU continued to be a major advocate of IHL, using a variety of means, as listed in the EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with International Humanitarian Law. In April 2018, the EU published the first report on the implementation of the Guidelines, covering the period between July 2016 – June 2017, and demonstrating more visibly the wide range of measures the EU undertakes in support of IHL.
Over the past years, and in line with its pledges, the EU and its Member States continued to support training on and the dissemination of IHL both within and outside the EU. For example, the EU provided funding to the ICRC in Afghanistan and Ukraine to increase the knowledge and capacity of duty-bearers on the respect for IHL in times of armed conflict. More broadly, in the period 2016-2018 the EU remained a key supporter of the work of the ICRC in upholding respect for IHL and the humanitarian principles, providing a total of over EUR 400 million to projects managed by the organisation.
The EU, through its funding for the Geneva Call NGO, supported the promotion of respect of IHL among all types of armed non-state actors in a number of countries, such as Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, the EU supported the Geneva Call to reinforce globally the humanitarian community’s capacity to negotiate access with non-state armed groups and promote their compliance with IHL in armed conflict.
Moreover, the EU has also funded other projects with an IHL objective implemented by other humanitarian partners, i.e. Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management III, which aims at better enabling staff in EU, OSCE, UN, AU and other crisis management and stabilisation-type missions to work in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner in order to achieve their missions’ mandates.
The EU also promoted capacity building on IHL in the context of Common Foreign and Security Policy /Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP) operations. For example, it organised a workshop on promoting and ensuring compliance with IHL and gender in the context of CFSP/CSDP, with a specific focus on Mali, Somalia and Central African Republic, given the current presence of the three EU Training Missions.
In line with its pledges, over the past years, the EU and its Member States have also continued their efforts to advocate strongly and consistently for the respect of international law, including IHL, in a variety of European and international fora.
The EU Member States contributed to efforts to strengthen IHL and accountability for violations of IHL in the UN Security Council (in particular, the protection of civilians and health and medical care in armed conflict have been included in several Council resolutions and press statements). 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.
As a member or observer in a range of international organisations and bodies, the EU frequently intervened on matters related to IHL, including in the context of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), and of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Most recently, the EU co-organised during the UN General Assembly Ministerial Week in September 2018, a high-level Side Event on ‘Civilians Under Fire: Humanitarian Protection and Respect for IHL’, drawing attention to the consequences of IHL violations on civilians, with a focus on humanitarian action, medical care, and education. The EU also continued to be very active in Geneva addressing in various fora key issues of compliance with IHL.
The EU continued to consistently and repeatedly raise issues of IHL compliance through statements, including those issued by the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management in relation to particular humanitarian crises or the delivery of humanitarian aid. The EU dedicates particular attention to the protection of humanitarian workers. Every year it marks World Humanitarian Day on 19 August with a series of dedicated activities to draw attention to the challenges and dangers that humanitarian workers face in their work, and to foster understanding and respect of IHL and the humanitarian principles. In addition, for several years the EU has been the facilitator of the UNGA Resolution on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of the United Nations personnel.
All EU Member States are party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (Ottawa Treaty). Some EU Member States are members of the Ottawa Convention’s Committee for the assistance to victims. The EU Member States have worked actively on the universalisation of the Convention and to encourage States Parties to make timely reports in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention.
The EU contributes towards the goals of this Convention through its commitment to mine action, which also addresses explosive remnants of war (ERW) including cluster munitions. The EU and its Member States continued to provide significant funding to mine action especially in the fields of risk education, clearance, stockpile destruction, and victim assistance, including through financial assistance to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and other relevant actors in this field. A number of EU funded projects contribute to the socio-economic reintegration of mine and ERW – including cluster munitions – victims, and to the enhancement of local and regional capacities. For example, the EU has funded projects aimed at creating employment opportunities for and providing vocational training to survivors.
In 2017 the Council of the EU decided to step up the EU support for the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. These efforts will also contribute to the objectives under this Convention. One of the projects will assist States Parties to the Mine Ban Convention to embed the victim assistance aspects of the Maputo Action Plan in an integrated framework linked with national policies on human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities. The project aims to empower mine victims to become active agents in their own development.
The EU and its Member States have worked actively to implement the EU Guidelines on Children and armed Conflict and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 with regard to the protection of children affected by armed conflict, as well as to promote the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation of children affected by armed conflicts.
The EU Member States have worked towards the strengthening of the protection of children affected by armed conflicts within the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), by providing financial support to the UNICEF’s Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave violations against children in conflict or post-conflict areas and by supporting other relevant programmes targeting children and youth in conflict and post-conflict situations.
The EU Member States also sponsored a number of side events, conferences and seminars focused on children in armed conflicts, in particular on the protection of children, the reintegration and rehabilitation of children affected by armed conflict, as well as the development and implementation of child protection policies by the UN and regional organisations.
The EU is a major funder of programmes providing physical and psychosocial rehabilitation for children affected by armed conflicts. In the past three years, the EU has funded physical rehabilitation programmes, including for children affected by conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey. The EU has also continued to sponsor mental health and psychosocial support projects for children affected by conflicts. These include, among others, psychosocial support projects for refugees in Kenya, displaced Rohingya children in Bangladesh and for survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
EU humanitarian action has also funded projects focused on children in armed conflicts implemented by other humanitarian partners, i.e. on the protection and education of children in Sudan and Niger, implemented by UNICEF, or on the re-integration of children in Senegal and Mali, implemented by SOS Villages d’Enfants Belgique.
In addition, the EU has become a global leader in the field of education in emergencies and protracted crises by further scaling up the funding for these activities to 8% in 2018 from the humanitarian budget. In May 2018, the European Commission issued a Communication on education in emergencies and protracted crises where the EU committed to addressing barriers to education and to providing out of school children safe and quality learning opportunities. In the Council Conclusions adopted in November 2018, the Council welcomed the comprehensive approach to education in emergencies which includes preparedness, disaster risk reduction, prevention, mitigation, rapid response, and a commitment to building resilient education systems.
