People on War 2016: Background, methodology and results

In 2016, the ICRC commissioned WIN/Gallup International to conduct a survey among the general public in 16 countries to capture the public's views on a range of issues pertaining to the rules of war.

Between June and September, the local partners of WIN/Gallup International posed around 20 questions to each interviewee in countries affected by armed conflict and in the countries of permanent members of the UN Security Council and Switzerland. See the report map. The 2016 survey incorporated questions from two previous global IHL-related initiatives — the People on War research from 1999 as well as a similar study in 2009 of people living in countries affected by armed conflict, Our World. Views from the Field. This has enabled us to make some comparisons and highlight certain trends.

The 2016 People on War was not an academic study. Rather it gives an indication of what people are thinking on critical issues affecting countless men, women and children suffering as a result of armed conflict. View the survey method, sample sizes, dates of the survey per country.

All the survey results can be found here and WIN/Gallup International's report can be found here. Any conclusions or interpretation of the survey results drawn by other entities do not necessarily reflect those of the ICRC.

Alongside the ICRC's global People on War initiative, several smaller-scale surveys were carried out by eight International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners to gather the views and perspectives on IHL in their countries. See their websites for more information: Australia Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross and Swedish Red Cross.