Committees

Humanitarian access and adherence to international humanitarian law

Inquiry

International humanitarian law includes important rules to facilitate the passage of humanitarian relief such as food, clothing and medical supplies as well as rules on the protection of humanitarian personnel. In addition, UN Security Council resolutions have called for safe and unhindered access for humanitarian personnel. Yet, in recent years there have been concerning trends in the adherence to IHL by combatant parties in conflict. In particular, there are increasingly frequent accounts of cases where the requirements for access to allow the delivery of relief material and the protections for those who deliver it have been ignored.

Taking protection of humanitarian workers, the Aid Worker Security Database reports that in 2023, 280 workers died delivering aid. Of the 595 aid workers killed, injured or kidnapped that year, 95% were staff local to the crisis. In terms of humanitarian access, ACAPS assessed that between November 2022 and June 2023, crisis-affected populations in 37 countries were experiencing “extreme access constraints”, up by 5 on the previous period.

This inquiry will seek to understand what the UK Government is doing to address the root causes of this problem through encouraging parties to adhere to IHL. It will also examine how provision for the protection and support of aid delivery workers is built into the Government’s funding arrangements with delivery partners.

This is an opportunity for the Committee to receive oral and written evidence on efforts of the UK Government in encouraging the adherence to IHL by international actors as well as its own responsibilities to the protection of aid workers delivering UK ODA.

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This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:45pm on 22 January 2025.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Tuesday 13 May 2025
2:00pm Public
Oral evidence session 13 May 2025
The development work of the FCDO - Oral evidence
2:00pm
  • The Rt Hon. the Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and the Caribbean at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Nick Dyer (Second Permanent Under-Secretary at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
Humanitarian access and adherence to international humanitarian law - Oral evidence
3:00pm
  • The Rt Hon. the Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and the Caribbean at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Hazel Cameron (Head of Human Rights Department at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Matthew Wyatt (Director for Humanitarian, Food Security and Resilience Directorate at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 11 March 2025
2:15pm Public
Humanitarian access and adherence to international humanitarian law - Oral evidence 11 March 2025
2:15pm
  • Anna Tazita Samuel (Executive Director at Women for Change)
  • Steve Dennis (Founder at Proper Support)
2:50pm
  • Tarini Ross (Head of Humanitarian Programmes at Humanitarian Aid International)
  • Jon Novakovic (Executive Director at Global Interagency Security Forum (GISF))
  • Imogen Wall (Founder at IW Response Associates)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: indcom@parliament.uk
  • Address: International Development Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA