International Humanitarian Law and the protection of civilians discussion in Brussels.

On the 2nd of February 2026, a conference was held in Press Club Europe, Brussels. It was organized by the Geneva Academy and the focus of the discussion was on the preservation of International Humanitarian Law in the case of armed conflicts and the release of the report from the Geneva Academy, “War Watch. IHL in Focus Report”, examining 23 of them.

The presentation was followed by a debate by high profile panelist such as Mr. Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, Ms. Rona Rishmawi, Independent International fact-finding mission on Sudan and Ms. Jennifer Dabis, Juzoor for Health and Development, Palestine.

Ms. Hadja Lahbib, EU commissioner for equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, introduced the panel by a few words about the international situation since the start of the year and the necessity for the European Union to stand up to make respect out of IH Land being the inconvenient voice in the room. In case of humanitarian crisis, the EU should be able to implement effective politics and diplomacy in such events as much as held perpetrators accountable.

She also mentioned the situation in Myanmar, Gaza, Sudan, Mozambique and Haiti.

The panelists highlighted the tragic fate of women and girls, their bodies becoming battle field and sexual abuse used weapons of wars.

The denial of humanitarian workers activities on the field like some being abducted in Yemen or killed in Gaza. Grass roots movement. Remind us that for each story we’ve been told, far more are undocumented. Destructions of civilian infrastructure (prohibited by the Geneva convention unless there is proof of being a covert for armed activities).

However, we should also take our allies accountable like Finland for moving out of the treaty of landmines and Ukraine for its use of such weapons.

The panel ended with those tales of resilience and warned the public not to fall into defeatism and cynicism.