We use various third-party cookies to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. Please use the options below to manage your cookie settings. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Please be aware, if you deny cookies, certain features of our website may not work.
This will apply to all services
Google Analytics
YouTube
7 May 2019
Our new publication Disability and Armed Conflict brings attention to the devastating impact conflict has on persons with disabilities and, crucially, highlights that many of the key international humanitarian law (IHL) provisions that serve to minimize the impact of armed conflict – such as the proportionality assessment and advanced effective warnings – are not being applied in a disability inclusive manner, resulting in persons with disabilities being killed, seriously injured or left behind as families flee armed attacks.
‘This publication brings attention to this extremely important, yet much overlooked topic that has been predominately ignored by states, humanitarian organizations, the United Nations (UN), civil society, the media as well as academics. It is the outcome of more than three years of research funded by SNIS and Pro Victimis, including field research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Palestine, Ukraine and Vietnam’ underlines Professor Marco Sasòli, Director of the Geneva Academy.
Persons with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world. According to the World Health Organization, they represent at least 15 percent of every population. Despite this, and the severe consequences that armed conflict has on them, ‘disability’ is still widely considered a niche issue in the conflict setting.
‘Very little research or literature exists on the topic’ underlines Alice Priddy, Senior Researcher at the Geneva Academy and author of the publication.
‘Open the contents page or index of any textbook on armed conflict and it is unlikely to include ‘disability’. Military manuals and IHL training programmes do not meaningfully incorporate the disability perspective while UN-mandated commissions of inquiry and UN agency reports routinely fail to include a disability analysis of armed conflict. Alarmingly, not a single resolution of the UN Security Council, Human Rights Council or General Assembly is dedicated to addressing the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on persons with disabilities’ she adds.
The publication offers eight key findings and recommendations for states, humanitarian organizations and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The findings and associated recommendations relate to: the application of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in differing conflict settings, the relationship between the CRPD and IHL, as well as analysis of a number of key IHL norms, including adverse distinction and humane treatment from a disability perspective.
The findings also challenge the miss-conceptions that continue to dominate disability discourse: including incorrect understandings of ‘disability’, the under-inclusive focus on physical and sensory impairment, and prevention of primary impairment being wrongly included within disability-rights.
‘In sum, the publication highlights that IHL is not being applied in a disability inclusive manner and this amounts to discrimination under the CRPD and also goes against IHL’s own norms that demand humane treatment and prohibit adverse distinction’ stresses Alice Priddy.
Besides the recommendations offered in the publication, training sessions were held in Palestine, Ukraine and Vietnam, to provide stakeholders on the ground – local organizations of persons with disabilities, state representatives, UN agencies and other international humanitarian organizations – with an overview of international law applicable to persons with disabilities and their inclusion in norms related to the conduct of hostilities.
‘We plan to continue to work on this topic by publishing a Military Briefing in early 2020 that will offer very concrete guidance to militaries on the law and policy changes they need to make to ensure that they are applying their IHL obligations in an inclusive manner’ explains Professor Marco Sassòli.
Determined to bring attention to the lives of persons with disabilities living in armed conflict, we have partnered with the photographer Giles Duley to tell the stories of some of those affected by armed conflict.
His photo exhibition on Quai Wilson (Geneva) from 30 Avril to 30 May 2019 tells the stories of persons with disabilities during and following armed conflicts including Odai in Gaza, Yasmine in Iraq, Betty in Uganda and Kholoud who fled Syria with her family and now lives in Holland after having spent almost three years in Lebanon.
News
Asian Development Bank
The article Engendering the Right to Food? International Human Rights Law, Food Security and the Rural Woman, written by our Senior Research Fellow Dr Joanna Bourke Martignoni, examines how United Nations human rights mechanisms address the role and status of rural women in the context of food security and the rights to food and land.
News
UN Photo/ Jean Marc Ferré
In the perspective of a conference co-organized with the Global Studies Institute (University of Geneva), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Canton of Geneva, we invite proposals that focus on the role of human rights mechanisms in implementing international humanitarian law.
Current Issues in Armed Conflict Conference
ICRC
This annual conference, co-organized with the Human Rights Centre of University of Essex, provides a space to discuss the legal and policy issues that have arisen in the past and the current year in relation to armed conflicts situations.
Event
This event marks the launch of our new publication which addresses the handling of individual communications and tackles question related to the efficiency in handing them.
Training
ICRC
Organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Geneva Academy, this advanced seminar aims to enhance the capacity of lecturers and researchers to teach and research international humanitarian law contemporary issues, addressing both substantive and pedagogical aspects.
Training
UNEP
This training course provides participants with a deep understanding of the international legal framework for the protection of human rights and the environment as well as in-depth knowledge of how to promote environmental protection through existing human rights mechanisms. The 2019 edition will dedicate special attention to plastic pollution.
Project
ICRC
After having provided academic support to the negotiation of the UN Declaration during ten years, this research project focuses on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.
Project
MSF
This research aims at building a common understanding and vision as to how states and the relevant parts of the UN system can provide a concrete and practical framework to address human rights responsibilities of armed non-state actors.
