Many countries are still involved in illegal arms transfers despite having committed themselves to an international treaty to regulate the flow of such weapons, according to the ICRC. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are being killed, injured or forcibly displaced in conflicts fuelled by such transfers. “I am concerned about the gap… between the duty to ensure respect for international humanitarian law in arms transfers and the actual transfer practices of too many states,” said ICRC President Peter Maurer in a video delivered to states party to the Arms Trade Treaty, who were meeting in Mexico in August to decide on mechanisms for implementing the agreement.
The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing a critical examination of how communities and countries prepare for multiple, overlapping crises. Here are a few lessons the Japanese Red Cross Society learned after the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant meltdown ten years ago this month.
In places where conflict or crisis means basic services are scarce, the use of data is saving lives. But protecting people’s physical well-being, experts say, is also about protecting their digital profile in cyberspace.
As a biologist who responds to emergencies for the Spanish Red Cross, Eva Turró has found her place in the humanitarian world, raising awareness about the life-saving link between health and hygiene in the wake of calamity.
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