The obligation to disseminate international humanitarian law – Factsheet

Knowledge of international humanitarian law (IHL) is essential to ensure respect for the rules contained therein. When states become parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions (GC) and their 1977 Additional Protocols (AP), they commit themselves to disseminate the provisions of those instruments as widely as possible, both in peacetime and in armed conflict. Furthermore, the Geneva Conventions require that states include the study of IHL in their programmes of military and, if possible, civil instruction, so that the rules may become known to the entire population. Other IHL instruments also contain an obligation of this nature, which is also customary. Although it is primarily the responsibility of states to make the law known, other organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), working in cooperation with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and their International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), have a mandate to assist states in this task. Resolutions adopted by the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2019 and 2024 respectively further emphasize the responsibility of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to take concrete steps to disseminate IHL effectively, paying particular attention to those called upon to implement or apply IHL.