A Guide to International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law (2010) The IBCR published in March 2010 a new edition of the guide Children in armed conflicts. A Guide to International Humanitarian and Human Rights law, completing the 2003 edition. The Guide was elaborated based on the observation that many new standards in the field of international humanitarian and international human rights law have emerged, and that those involved in the field are unaware of the scope of those new standards and the way they can implement them. Therefore, the guide is for people working with children affected by armed conflicts (e.g. training facilitators, people responsible for policy elaboration, government representatives, investigators, academics, students) in an effort to provide them with updated resources to understand and apply a normative framework relevant to the issues they are facing. Having become a trusted reference for professionals working in the field, the guide offers a detailed cartography of humanitarian law and children in armed conflicts law, but also educational and normative resources, as well as examples of concrete actions of promotion and protection of children’s rights.
Mr. Ibrahima DIOUF, Programme Officer, West Africa, Save the Children Sweden
"I will use the guide primarily as a reference tool to inform discussions, proposals and projects related to conflict-affected children. I will share the guide with our office in the field and leaders in communities that we work with to raise awareness and build capacity.” Ms. Jennifer Adams, Programme Manager, Plan International Canada
"It is certainly useful especially as it is very comprehensive and also includes a lot of original sources as reference material it can therefore serve as a quick reference but also includes original documents for further research if needed. It is useful in that it does not only give an overview of key issues as the first edition already did but also shows major developments.”
Aiming to increase awareness of national coalitions and non governmental organisations to the issue of children in armed conflicts, the IBCR has set up training sessions, particularly in the Ivory Coast, Guinea and Senegal (October 2010), based on the content of the guide and of its different training modules. Those training sessions have taken place with the support of Save the Children Sweden Regional Offices and encourage coalitions to report the most serious violations of children’s rights at the national level.
They advise the Guide…
"I found the guide very interesting and really useful for any stakeholder involved inchild protection in general and mainly in child protection in emergencies. It’s a wonderful 'handbook' full of relevant interventions we need to better act and react in our daily tasks and duties.”
Mr. Martin Nagler, Child Protection Adviser, United Nations Mission
in the Democratic Republic of Congo