Opening Expert Meeting For 'IHL in Focus' Project

22 April 2024

Earlier this year, the Geneva Academy launched the project 'IHL in Focus - Assessing Compliance in Contemporary Armed Conflicts', that will publish a global annual report aiming to provide a timely, comprehensive, methodologically systematic, and publicly available source of analysis on current armed conflicts and related International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations and implementation challenges.

The project will build upon and complement previous projects and know-how of the Geneva Academy, including the RULAC Database, and provide stakeholders, such as states, international organizations, humanitarian actors and NGOs, with an independent, thorough examination of global compliance with IHL.

First Expert Meeting

To kick-start the activities of the project and refine its approach, a two-day expert meeting was convened to discuss key questions arising in the context of IHL monitoring that are of particular importance to this project. The meeting conveyed a diverse group of practitioners from the humanitarian and human rights sector, OSINT specialists, IHL experts and academics. A through presentation of the project was followed by four panels covering;

  • Existing initiatives in the field of IHL monitoring and their complementarity
  • Identifying trends and patterns of IHL violations
  • Methodological aspects connected with data-gathering
  • The translation of such a research project into a relevant tool for IHL advocacy

Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy, explained, ‘Gathering such a high-level group of experts and practitioners to discuss about the challenging issue of monitoring and reporting on IHL violations at Villa Moynier was a very rewarding experience. Comments, presentations, and informal exchanges have provided us with valuable insights that will play a prominent part in helping us to fine-tune the methodology for the development of the global annual report. This first ‘IHL in Focus’ expert meeting has also been a great opportunity to discuss the challenges that the project will face, and even more importantly, it has reinforced our conviction in the significance of this effort.’

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