UN: Monaco reaffirms full support for international humanitarian law to protect civilians in armed conflicts

Nawal Nourid prononçant l’intervention de la Principauté sous le point de l’ordre du jour consacré à l’état des Protocoles additionnels aux Conventions de Genève © DR

On 17 October 2022, Nawal Nourid, who is undertaking a final internship at Monaco’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, spoke during the deliberations of the General Assembly Sixth Committee, which considers legal questions.

The Principality, which is party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, called on all States to respect these conventions unreservedly. No one can deny that respect for human dignity is a universal basic right and that violence against civilians is unacceptable. International humanitarian law decrees that civilians, and especially the most vulnerable groups (women, children and people with disabilities), must be protected from the effects of violence and war, regardless of which party to the conflict they belong to and independently of the reasons put forward to justify the conflict. The fight against impunity was also reaffirmed.

In addition, Nawal Nourid noted the humanitarian mobilisations and actions of the Monaco Red Cross since it was founded in 1948. The work of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the partnerships forged by the Principality were also discussed, notably the partnership with the Sanremo International Institute of Humanitarian Law to promote and share expertise in international humanitarian law.