Legally speaking, no other type of armed conflict exists. IHL treaty law also establishes a distinction between non-international armed conflicts in the meaning of common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and non-international armed conflicts falling within the definition provided in Art. Non-international armed conflicts, between governmental forces and non-governmental armed groups, or between such groups only.

International armed conflicts, opposing two or more States, and International humanitarian law distinguishes two types of armed conflicts, namely: It is on this basis that the ICRC takes this opportunity to present the prevailing legal opinion on the definition of ' international armed conflict ' and ' non-international armed conflict ' under International Humanitarian Law, the branch of international law which governs armed conflict. This report is available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic below and in Russian here.You can also scroll down to download the executive summary or individual chapters in English.The States parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions have entrusted the ICRC, through the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, ' to work for the understanding and dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts and to prepare any development thereof ' Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, art. The next pandemic could be just around the corner: if the experience of COVID-19 won’t quicken our steps toward preparedness, what will? We can save lives simply by being prepared. In other words, preparedness is an ongoing, continuous process. Being truly prepared therefore means being ready to respond, to recover, and to learn lessons for next time. Our World Disasters Report 2022 focuses on the coronavirus pandemic and preparedness: both the ways preparedness ahead of COVID-19 was inadequate, and how the world can prepare more effectively for future public health emergencies.įor the IFRC, preparedness encompasses preventing, responding to, and recovering from an emergency. More than 6.5 million people are confirmed to have died in less than three years, and the pandemic’s indirect impacts have touched the lives of virtually every community on the planet. The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest disaster in living memory, on almost any measure.

Internal armed conflict definition