China: Briefing for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on principled humanitarian action
Amidst an unprecedented scale of unmet humanitarian needs, the ICRC and the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Beijing co-organised the first-ever ICRC briefing for the SCO member states on 3 February. The event titled 'Exchange on Challenges to Principled and Effective Humanitarian Action' brought together 30 participants including Permanent Representatives of SCO Member States, military attachés accredited to the People's Republic of China, and diplomats from the embassies of SCO observer states and dialogue partner states.
The SCO Secretary-General, His Excellency Nurlan Yermekbayev, noted in his opening remarks that the SCO member states remain deeply concerned by the escalation of conflicts that lead to catastrophic humanitarian situations and stressed the necessity of ensuring immediate, complete, and sustainable ceasefires where conflicts persist, alongside unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.
The Personal Envoy of the President and Head of ICRC’s Regional Delegation for East Asia, Balthasar Staehelin, thanked the SCO secretariat and the member States for their interest in addressing the growing humanitarian crises in the region and beyond. According to Mr Staehelin, this briefing is taking place at a time of profound transformation and uncertainty in the global geopolitical landscape. Humanitarian needs have reached historic levels, while access for humanitarian actors is increasingly constrained by insecurity, politicisation, and erosion of respect for international humanitarian law (IHL).
On 3 February, 2026, the ICRC and the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation co-organised the first-ever ICRC briefing for the SCO member states in Beijing.
From the ICRC, Ms Fiona Barnaby, head of the humanitarian affairs department and Mr Andrew Carswell, delegate to the armed forces in East Asia, presented key challenges to the humanitarian action and outlined the ICRC’s working principles, contemporary challenges it faces including the pressure to its neutrality amidst growing polarisation. They highlighted the importance of impartial humanitarian action, practical measures to ensure unimpeded humanitarian access in complex emergencies, and the need to foster an environment conducive to respect for IHL. ICRC operations in Gaza were presented as a case study illustrating the humanitarian impact of contemporary armed conflict.
The co-organisation of this briefing reflects both the spirit, and the practical implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the ICRC and the SCO in 2017.
