ICRC, World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières: Health care must never be a casualty of war
Geneva - Ten years ago, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286 on health care in armed conflicts. The situation is even worse compared to 10 years ago. Today, we mark not an achievement - we mark a failure.
As violence affecting medical facilities, transport and personnel continues unabated, the harm this resolution sought to prevent has not diminished. It has continued and, in many contexts, intensified. As heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and Médecins Sans Frontières, we join others in the international community in issuing an urgent call for action.
Every day on the front lines of the world’s most devastating crises, our teams witness the catastrophic consequences when the sanctity of health care is violated. Hospitals are reduced to rubble, ambulances are blocked or targeted, and doctors, nurses and patients are injured or killed. Patients die from treatable wounds, women give birth without care and entire communities lose access to life-saving services. When health care is no longer safe, it is often the clearest warning sign that the rules of war are being ignored. If hospitals and those who protect life are under attack, we face not only a humanitarian crisis, but a crisis of humanity.
States and all parties to armed conflict must comply with the rules protecting health care. The obligation to “respect and ensure respect” for international humanitarian law requires states not only to abide by these rules themselves, but also to use all possible influence to ensure that other states and parties to conflict do the same.
The recommendations of the UN Secretary-General that accompanied Resolution 2286 remain a clear, actionable roadmap for states. The ICRC, WHO and MSF stand ready with our presence in conflict settings, medical expertise and operational capacity to support states in implementing these critical measures.
We also recall World Health Assembly Resolution 65.20 that introduced in 2012 systematic documentation and reporting of attacks on health care by the World Health Organization: strengthening consistent and transparent reporting is essential to build the evidence base, inform prevention and response, and advance accountability.
To honour the spirit of Resolution 2286 and prevent another decade of deteriorating norms and unjustifiable violence affecting health care in conflict settings, we call upon all states to urgently implement the following measures:
- Translate existing commitments into concrete action to implement Resolution 2286 and actively promote the positive efforts and the forthcoming outcome document of the Global IHL initiative’s workstream on achieving meaningful protection for hospitals.
- Integrate the protection of health care into military doctrine, rules of engagement and operational guidance to give practical effect to IHL obligations.
- Review, enact and strengthen domestic laws to protect health care in armed conflict.
- Allocate adequate financial, technical and operational resources to implement measures that protect health care and promote respect for its provision.
- Use all available means to influence other parties to conflict, including those that states support militarily, politically or economically, to comply with their obligations to protect health care.
- Conduct swift, transparent and impartial investigations into attacks on health care and ensure those responsible are held accountable.
- Regularly and transparently report on the implementation of Resolution 2286, including progress, challenges, good practices and lessons learned, so they might be replicated globally.
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