As part of the European Humanitarian Forum, a humanitarian conference was held on Monday 21 March aimed at discussing the humanitarian consequences of urban warfare. 

After opening remarks from Helen Durham (Director of International Law and Policy at the ICRC), expert panelists Anne Héry (Director of Advocacy and Institutional Relations at Humanity & Inclusion Federation, and INEW Steering Committee member),  Dr Eirini Giorgou (legal adviser in ICRC’s Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit), and Laura Boillot (Coordinator, International Network on Explosive Weapons – INEW) discussed the challenges posed by urban warfare and the devastating consequences of the use of heavy explosive weapons in towns and cities, before identifying solutions to address the civilian harm and the needs of affected communities, and calling for avoiding the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas.

The full recording of the conference is available here.