The Last Lifeline: Safeguarding Health Care Amidst Rising Global Conflict

Hospitals and other health facilities perform life-saving functions during armed conflict and are protected under international humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the laws of armed conflict or the rules of war. Yet in many conflict zones, attacks on health care are occurring with alarming frequency. The Safeguarding Health Care in Conflict Coalition and Médecins Sans Frontières have reported unprecedented levels of such attacks in recent years, amid rising global insecurity and violence, and a global decline in life-saving humanitarian assistance. 

The adherence to IHL by State and non-State actors is eroding and resulting in the weakening of respect for rules protecting civilians and health facilities in conflict zones. In 2016, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted "UNSC resolution 2286," which raised attention to this challenge, and called on all states to take steps to respect and protect health care in armed conflict. 

This daylong seminar brought together practitioners, scholars, and policy advocates to examine the erosion of protections for health care in conflict, hear from leaders in the field, and explore solutions to ensure these critical rules are respected. This event was co-sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Baylor College of Medicine Center for Global Surgery. The ICRC has developed research and policy recommendations for militaries, health care practitioners and legislators to bolster protections for health care in conflict. It is free and open to the public.

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