Geneva Call (Ukraine)

Thematic areas: Humanitarian Norms – Child Protection & Education – Forced Displacement – Healthcare – Antipersonnel Mines – Sexual Violence & Gender Discrimination – Cultural Heritage

Geneva Call has been active in Ukraine since 2018 with scaled up operations since the beginning of the full-scale conflict in February 2022, resulting in an international armed conflict.

Since then, violent hostilities persist, with over 2 million combatants having been involved on both sides, and hundreds of thousands of combatant and civilian casualties. The conflict is also marked by widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure such as power plants, schools, residential buildings, and hospitals.

An unusual feature of the conflict is the inclusion of a considerable number of foreign, non-traditional, or volunteer fighters that have joined or allied themselves in some capacity to parties to the conflict.

Geneva Call’s analyses have demonstrated that combatants’ knowledge of the rules of war — their rights and obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL) — varies widely, reflecting their different backgrounds and the rapid mobilization of civilian populations into the military.

It is imperative to fill those knowledge gaps, so that civilians — along with the places they live in and the humanitarian aid they desperately need — are protected as well as possible.

The focus of our efforts adheres to strict selection criteria but focuses primarily on battalions and units of combatants which have been recently integrated into armed forces. This work aims to reduce a potential to commit IHL and IHRL violations. It does not include investigations of — or reporting — potential or alleged violations.

It is a preventive and complementary approach, one that responds to the urgent needs of national and local authorities that are not being fully met in any other way, and which is underpinned by Geneva Call’s mandate.