Written evidence submitted to International Development Committee inquiry
Several members of the Beyond Compliance Consortium Leadership team have submitted written evidence to the International Development Committee’s inquiry on humanitarian access and adherence to international humanitarian law.
On 8th February 2025, several members of the Beyond Compliance Consortium Leadership team submitted written evidence to the International Development Committee’s inquiry on humanitarian access and adherence to international humanitarian law. In the brief, the authors – Ioana Cismas, Katharine Fortin, Emilie Fitzsimons, Ezequiel Heffes, Stephen Wilkinson, Rocco Blume and Rebecca Sutton – put forward the following three evidence-based arguments:
- Denial of humanitarian access and assistance is a major driver of humanitarian need and civilian harm, and both a cause and an effect of IHL and IHRL violations.
- Denial of humanitarian access and assistance is reflective of a more generalised pattern of disrespect for humanitarian norms.
- Double standards responses by third parties lead to systemic challenges of international law and the erosion of normative and institutional protections in armed conflict, including those relating to humanitarian access and assistance.
The submission ends by providing a detailed series of recommendations for how the UK government can affirm its commitment to humanitarian norms, contribute to compliance initiatives both in its discourse and action and strengthen and reaffirm its commitment to international courts and institutions.
This was not a BCC submission, but a submission by several individuals associated with the BCC. The International Development Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to scrutinise the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in respect of aid policy, and the expenditure of Official Development Assistance across UK government departments.