Int’l Humanitarian Law in context of armed conflict: Int’l Committee of Red Cross schools UB, UBA lecturers.

The training from June Wednesday 19 to Friday 21, 2024, took place in the Boardroom of the Faculty of Education of the University of Buea.

It was organised under the theme: “The Lecture of International Humanitarian Law in a context of the increasing complexity of armed conflicts: situational analysis, challenges, and perspectives”. 

The ICRC Head for the Buea Sub-Delegation, Sabrina Frutig, said the capacity training workshop addressed many challenges, stemming from misunderstanding of her organisation’s role and operations in propagating the IHL. 

The ICRC representative however emphasised the commitment and non-alignment of her organisation, highlighting that their mandate is apolitical and driven towards upholding the International Humanitarian Law which serves as cover for non-armed victims of conflicts. 

The ICRC, Sabrina Frutig said, is a “neutral, independent, and impartial institution” with an exclusively humanitarian mission. It provides protection and assistance to victims of armed conflicts and other situations of violence. 

In the inaugural lecture, UB's Professor Kiven James Kewir said, wars across the world coupled with technological evolutions have made the teaching of IHL complex warranting a dynamic approach.

This, he said, justifies the necessity of the session would open informed discussions on the topic. He said teaching International Humanitarian Law is important to understand why the effects of conflicts need to be prevented, why persons not taking part in hostilities need to be protected and why the means and method of warfare must be restricted. 

He underscored that teaching the IHL in universities is the best way to promote it. The Dean of the Faculty of Laws and Political Science, UB, Professor Atangcho Nji Akonumbo said the intervention was timely. 

He also appreciated the donation of some books on IHL to the faculty. The books he said will help further research by students on the area and contribute to their Law Library in gesticulation.

Presentations ranged from the mandate of the ICRC, situational analysis and main challenges, and the interaction between IHL and International Human Rights Law amongst other areas. 

This session comes two months after the first one which was organised for post-graduate students of the Faculty of Laws and Political Sciences and the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3151 of Thursday June 27, 2024