Armed conflicts: humanitarian organizations warn of intensifying violence against hospitals

Ten years after the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2286 on the protection of health care in armed conflict, the situation has worsened and constitutes “a collective failure”, warns the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Noting the continuation, even intensification, of attacks against hospitals, ambulances and medical personnel, the three organizations denounce, in a joint statement published Monday, “catastrophic” consequences on the ground: infrastructure destroyed, evacuations hampered, caregivers and patients killed or injured, sick people deprived of life-saving treatment and women forced to give birth without adequate assistance.

They emphasize that the insecurity of health care is a major signal of the collapse of the rules supposed to limit the effects of war and call on States and all parties to conflicts to strictly respect international humanitarian law, in particular the obligation to protect medical structures and personnel.

Based on the recommendations of the UN Secretary General and on the attack documentation mechanisms put in place since 2012, the ICRC, WHO and MSF are calling for urgent measures: translate commitments into concrete actions, integrate health care protection into military doctrines, strengthen national legislation, allocate sufficient resources, use their influence on parties to conflicts, promptly and impartially investigate attacks and ensure accountability, as well as ensure transparent monitoring of the implementation of the resolution.

“This is not a failure of law, but a lack of political will,†they insist, urging world leaders to act so that health care never becomes a casualty of war.