'Not a Target': The 2025 Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel (Webinar)

The ANZSIL International Peace and Security Interest Group (IPSIG), together with the IHL Advisory Committee of Australian Red Cross (Vic Division), and the New Zealand Centre for Public Law, are pleased to present this webinar.

The statistics on attacks on humanitarian personnel recorded in the Aid Worker Security Database are grim reading: 388 major attacks in 2025 with the majority of the victims being national staff. Attacks have occurred in conflicts throughout the world, including in Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen. Humanitarian personnel are subjected to increasing levels of violence for just doing their work – caring for those affected by armed conflict. This situation has led to the ICRC’s campaign and short film, ‘Not a Target’.

Deeply concerned by this trend, in 2024 the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, announced an initiative to adopt a new instrument designed to strengthen the international community’s commitment to protect humanitarian workers and provide practical steps for action. One year later, in September 2025, the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel was launched at the United Nations in New York.

This seminar brings together experts to discuss the practical and legal challenges associated with the protection of humanitarian workers. The speakers will explain the background to the Declaration and consider how it applies the existing international legal framework and the way it may be implemented in practice.

Date/Time: Wednesday 25 March 2026, 4PM-5PM AEDT/6PM-7PM NZDT

Speakers:

Dr Helen Durham (RedR)

Giri Kowtal (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia)

Yvette Spero (Australian Red Cross)

Chair: Associate Professor Marnie Lloydd Victoria University of Wellington

Further information about the event and the speakers, as well as registration details, is available via the registration button below.