Our Strategic Adviser on IHL Briefed the UN Security Council on the Geneva Conventions

Photo of the UN Security Council in session

IAEA Imagebank

14 August 2019

Our Strategic Adviser on international humanitarian law (IHL), Dr Annyssa Bellal, has been invited to brief on 13 August – together with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer and the United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Miguel de Serpa Soares – the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the Geneva Conventions.

The briefing, organized in the context of the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, discussed contemporary issues and challenges related to the respect and implementation of IHL.

In her briefing, Dr Bellal notably addressed the protracted nature of armed conflict and the need to mainstream international humanitarian law in the wider international legal system, the prevalence of non-international armed conflicts and the need to increase ownership of humanitarian norms among armed-non state actors, as well as the benefits of peer-pressure evaluation as an interesting way forward to better the overall system of IHL protection.

‘It is a great recognition for both the expertise of Dr Bellal and for the Geneva Academy to be invited to brief members of the UNSC on what we see as the more pressing issues related to the respect and implementation of the Geneva Conventions. The UN Security Council has played in the past a crucial role in enhancing their respect in certain armed conflicts and it can and should do so more systematically’ underlines Professor Marco Sassòli, Director of the Geneva Academy.

‘Having an academic and independent voice in these discussions is crucial and we are very thankful to the organizers for having invited Dr Bellal’ he adds.