Safeguarding health: a global health and humanitarian priority

01/21/2015. In late December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly passed what may become a landmarkresolution calling for concerted and specific actions by States to protect health workers from violence and to assure patients access to health care in situations of conflict or insecurity.

Although the General Assembly had previously addressed the need for protection on humanitarian aid workers, it had never before called for specific actions to protect the human right to health in all situations of conflict and violence.

The resolution, grounded in both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, was sponsored by Norway and other members the Global Health and Foreign Policy Group (Brazil, France, Indonesia, Norway, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand) and co-sponsored by 62 states.

Read the article on the HPN website


Related Articles

UK technocrat appointed UN humanitarian chief – reports

05/10/2017. Lowcock takes over as famine threatens four countries and humanitarian principles are trampled in Syria.

INTERVIEW: UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien

09/21/2015. “At the end of the day, every life saved is an achievement in itself.”

“Massive scaling up urgently needed to tackle hunger crisis” says ICRC’s Director of Operations

03/22/2017. The ICRC is appealing for $400m to help those most affected by the humanitarian crises in Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and north-east Nigeria