The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer on Tuesday said during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos that seven key issues will “shape the humanitarian agenda in 2018”.
“While attending the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, I will remind global leaders of the need to assist and protect civilians trapped in war zones,” he said, adding that if we don’t, the result will be global instability, major breakdowns of social and economic systems, and a failure to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Saying that the first issue is the international community’s report card on conflict, the ICRC chief stressed that the international community’s efforts and successes in addressing conflict will be critical in shaping the political agenda and the humanitarian response in 2018.
“Success will become a template for future action, while failure will compel alternative solutions,” he said.
“Will safe zones in Syria succeed? Will medical deliveries into Yemen resume? Will people be able to return to Rakhine State? Will long-running, low-intensity conflicts be so neglected that they boil over and trigger mass displacement and epidemics?” he asked.
“The ICRC works to maintain basic services people need to survive. But in 2018 and beyond, we need more determined efforts toward the peaceful resolution of conflict,” he added.
According to him, the second issue is rebuilding urban battlefields, since 50 million people are bearing the brunt of war in cities around the world, and reconstruction is a vast challenge in populated locations.
While saying that the third issue is transforming humanitarian funding, Maurer said that conflicts are not temporary interruptions, they are structural, socio-economic catastrophes, and funding must be allocated accordingly.
The fourth issue, he said, is the international Humanitarian Law (IHL), which has been violated on the news every day, but the fact that the law has changed wartime behavior over the decades is “drastically under-reported”.
“The international community must safeguard IHL against arguments it is not applicable or can be traded off in political deals. In 2018 we must strengthen consensus around the law as a stabilising force,” he highlighted.
The fifth issue is the Forgotten People which Maurer said totaled 65 million that have been forced to flee their homes globally, including over 40 million in their own countries.
“In 2018, as the international community negotiates a new global compact on migration and refugees, we call on states to ensure that asylum and migration policies are aligned with international obligations and to respond to the humanitarian needs of those fleeing violence inside their own borders,” he noted.
Referring to new technologies that are rapidly giving rise to unprecedented methods of warfare, Maurer said the sixth issue is cyber attacks and new weapons of war, including nanotechnologies, combat robots, and laser weapons.
“The fundamental rules of IHL apply to cyber warfare and other new technologies, but we must also consider stronger, more tailor-made rules to protect civilians from conflict’s future frontlines,” he said.
According to the ICRC chief, the tech for good is the seventh issue that will shape the humanitarian picture in 2018, which supposed to brings solutions to humanitarian problems.
“Big data and better contextual analysis have the potential to transform how ICRC responds and anticipates humanitarian crises. In 2018 we want to see technological advances play a bigger part in empowering people affected by conflict,” he concluded.
