Bringing IHL home: Guidelines on the national implementation of international humanitarian law

In December 2019, the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent adopted Resolution 1 (33IC/19/R1), entitled Bringing IHL home: A road map for better national implementation of international humanitarian law. The resolution is based on the widely shared recognition that better respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) is needed to protect victims of armed conflict, and that implementing IHL at the domestic level is an essential step towards achieving this goal. This document contains guidance for States and National Societies on working together to implement the resolution at the domestic level. It sets out recommended practical measures, in the form of checklists relating to key paragraphs of the resolution. Users of this document are encouraged to select the areas that are most relevant to their context and build upon the recommendations, following the idea that national implementation of IHL is a continuous process and that additional steps are always available, regardless of the current state of implementation.