Safety and security of humanitarian personnel

Strongly stresses the urgent need to ensure respect for and promotion of principles and norms of international humanitarian law, including those related to the safety and security of humanitarian personnel, both international and local; strongly condemns any act or failure to act which obstructs or prevents humanitarian personnel from discharging their humanitarian functions, or which entails their being subjected to threats, the use of force or physical attack frequently resulting in injury or death; calls upon all Governments and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies, in particular armed conflicts and post-conflict situations, in countries where humanitarian personnel are operating, in conformity with relevant provisions of international law and national laws, to cooperate fully with UN and other humanitarian agencies and organizations and to ensure the safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel in order to allow them to perform efficiently their task of assisting the affected civilian population, including refugees and internally displaced persons; calls upon all Governments and parties in countries where humanitarian personnel are operating to take all possible measures to ensure that the lives and well-being of humanitarian personnel are respected and protected; reaffirms the necessity for all humanitarian personnel to respect the national laws of the countries in which they are operating; urges all States to ensure that any threat or act of violence committed against humanitarian personnel on their territory is fully investigated and to take all appropriate measures, in accordance with international law and national legislation, to ensure that the perpetrators of such acts are prosecuted; encourages all States to become parties to and to fully respect the provisions of the relevant international instruments, including the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel of 9 Dec. 1994.

Adopted without vote, 73rd meeting

3 p.

Adopted at the 73rd plenary meeting, 16 Dec. 1997.