Host: Every Casualty Worldwide
Languages: English
Where: room 18
Description:
Currently there is yet to be an authoritative account of casualties in protracted conflicts such as in Syria, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and many others. This hinders the proper understanding by the conflict parties of the impact of their actions, both short and long term, and leaves victims of the conflict unrecognized. This side event has arisen from growing high-level support, including from States and the secretary-general of the United Nations and various of its agencies, for a civil-society call on States, in partnership with other actors, to recognize every casualty of armed violence by ensuring that all casualties are promptly recorded, correctly identified and publicly acknowledged
The main objective of the event is to discuss casualty recording as a universal practice essential to the recognition of victims of armed conflict as well as its role in supporting compliance with international humanitarian law, and how this may be further progressed. The event will present specific examples from the field from the perspective of victims of conflict, civil society and governments on how documenting casualties contributes to addressing the immediate and longer-term needs of victims as well as supporting conflict parties in fulfilling their obligations. It will underline how sound knowledge of casualties can provide a range of benefits to humanitarian actors, including as a means of evaluating harm and remedying it. The event will also be an opportunity for States and other relevant organizations and actors to pledge their commitment to casualty-recording principles and practices, and the global furtherance and promotion of casualty-recording initiatives.
For further background on casualty recording (in English):
Recording Casualties of War, British Medical Journal Editorial (2015)
Stolen Futures: The hidden toll of child casualties in Syria (2013)
Casualty Recording: Assessing State and United Nations Practices (2014)