8 April 2020, 12:30-13:45
Geneva Academy Talks
ICRC
Prisoners, internally displaced persons and refugees are particularly vulnerable to the rapid spread of COVID-19 because they can hardly comply with measures of confinement and/or social distancing and have limited access to healthcare facilities. In Syria, Yemen and many other places affected by armed conflict, healthcare facilities have also been destroyed or degraded, and there is significant shortage of medical equipment and medical professionals.
This IHL talk – exceptionally organized online – aims at shining light on the challenges faced by humanitarian organizations in organizing the response to COVID-19. The discussion will also touch upon states' obligation of due diligence to prevent the further spread of the virus.
Make sure you have created a Zoom account, if you haven’t yet, please create an account here.
Once you have created the account, please click on this link. If you are not sent to the meeting room but requested to download the app, just download it again (and if it doesn’t open the meeting, just re-click on the link).
You will then be placed in the event's waiting room: the host will grant you access right before the start of the event at 12:30. Please note that the discussion can only accommodate 100 participants. Places will, therefore, be allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. For those who cannot join this online meeting, the video of the event will be posted afterwards on this page, as well as on our social media channels.
Please use the chatbox to ask your questions, the moderator will make a selection of questions at the end of the presentations. There will be no possibility to interact by webcam and microphone in order to avoid connexion issues.
The IHL Talks are a series of events, hosted by the Geneva Academy, on international humanitarian law and current humanitarian topics. Every two months, academic experts, practitioners, policymakers and journalists discuss burning humanitarian issues and their regulation under international law.
In this online IHL Talk, panelists discussed the challenges faced by humanitarian organizations in organizing the response to COVID-19, and states' obligation of due diligence to prevent the further spread of the virus.
Here are the links discussed during the event:
Geneva Academy
The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributed to key discussions on AI, human rights, and sustainable digital governance at the World Economic Forum 2025.
Alarming conflict trends from the IHL in Focus report were presented to members of the UN at the EU Delegation in Geneva by members of the Geneva Academy.
ICRC
Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.
Adobe
To unpack the challenges raised by artificial intelligence, this project will target two emerging and under-researched areas: digital military technologies and neurotechnology.
Shutterstock
This project will explore humanitarian consequences and protection needs caused by the digitalization of armed conflicts and the extent to which these needs are addressed by international law, especially international humanitarian law.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy