PUTTING INTO PRACTICE THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS: INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been responding to humanitarian crises--and conflict in particular--for over a century and has maintained presence in Ukraine since 2014 and in Russia for decades. The Journal spoke with Ariane Bauer, Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia at the ICRC, about the federated humanitarian response model of the ICRC and volunteer-based Red Cross country teams, adapting existing procedures for the Ukraine context, and holding governments accountable when civilians are increasingly under threat.

Journal of International Affairs (JIA): Start by telling us how you arrived at your current role.

Ariane Bauer (AB): I've been with the ICRC for 15 years now, mainly in field positions. My previous role was as the head of delegation in Azerbaijan until last summer and before that, in many different contexts, in Ukraine, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines and Iraq. I have traveled around quite a bit, always in field positions, including in various managerial positions. Right now, I am the regional director for Europe and Central Asia and I'm also heading what we call the Crisis Response team for the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

JIA: What are some of your day-to-day activities as Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia?

AB: So, linking with the situation in Ukraine and Russia, my role is basically to support the response that we are carrying out in the field. We have a very large team in Ukraine, but we have also deployed to the surrounding countries, to Hungary, where we have a regional office, to Moldova, and we have a long-standing office in Russia, in Moscow, where we have a regional delegation covering Belarus.

This is important for us, because as much as we're bringing aid to the people affected by this international armed conflict, we're also wanting to engage with the parties to the conflict in order to discuss issues linked to international humanitarian law with them and how their legal obligations translate into the realities on the ground. So, my day-to-day business is really to make sure that our teams are coordinated in the field and that we are providing the necessary institutional support and strategic guidance to them.

Globally speaking, there is often a gap between the protections that the rules of war lay out in the Geneva Conventions and how this protection is achieved by parties to the conflict. In some circumstances, the ICRC acts as the bridge between the different sides to coordinate or agree on a response, for example to release and repatriate prisoners, to repair a critical water supply situated across frontlines, or to facilitate the safe passage of civilians. The ultimate aim is to minimize the human suffering that comes with war.

JIA: There are many different countries, and within countries there are teams of volunteers. How does the process of coordination work? Are there internal procedures that determine how people and goods move around, or is it a lot of communication to ensure that everyone is on the same page? What do some of these coordinating mechanisms actually look like when the response is in so many different places with so many different kinds of people?

AB: Let me use our operational response to the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine as a case study to illustrate the process. First of all, we didn't deploy just in February last year. We have had an operation in Ukraine since 2014 and we have been in Russia for many decades. And we, of course, have contacts on the ground with local authorities, with communities. We have ongoing programs where we coordinate regularly with ministries. A lot is really done in-country.

As of February 2022, we had to very significantly beef up our setup, activating our internal "crisis management mechanism." This mechanism is put in place when the "normal" functioning of our operations is disrupted by external factors and more resources are needed to handle a situation.

So in terms of scaling up, first and foremost it was about the management of the security situation which had deteriorated starkly. This put our teams at risk and forced us to evaluate how to maintain operations in a rapidly devolving environment. And then it was about how to structure what has become our largest humanitarian operation worldwide. On February 25, a first batch of our "Rapid Deployment Team" left Geneva by road as all flights to Ukraine had been cancelled. We then organized a rotation with our own plane to bring additional specialized personnel to the Romanian border so they could then enter...