The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works worldwide to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict and armed violence. We take action in response to emergencies and, at the same time, promote respect for international humanitarian law. We are an independent and neutral organization, and our mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. We work closely with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with their International Federation in order to ensure a concerted, rational and rapid humanitarian response to the needs of the victims of armed conflict or any other situation of internal violence. We direct and coordinate the international activities conducted in these situations.
The Division of Archives, Library and Outreach valorizes ICRC heritage, knowledge and thought leadership through archives, library, the International Review of the Red Cross and law and policy outreach.
The archives and library preserve and valorize institutional information for long-term use and access, contributing to the ICRC’s business continuity, accountability, and transparency. They form the memory of the organization and of individuals and their families affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence and contribute to the development of knowledge on ICRC’s past actions and on the development of international humanitarian law (IHL).
Through its different components, the division valorizes ICRC’s past actions and thinking to inform current and future decision-making and promotes the ICRC’s present thinking, legal and policy positions internally and externally. Offering an academic publishing platform for multidisciplinary analysis, it promotes critical and forward-looking research on humanitarian law, policy and action in armed conflict and other situations of collective armed violence.