IHL Training in Kenya

I have just returned from teaching international humanitarian law in Nairobi.  Two al-Shabaab grenade attacks not far from my hotel notwithstanding, it was one of the greatest professional experiences of my life.  The training was organized by the Brussels-based International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP), in conjunction with the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR)  PHAP conducts IHL trainings all over the world; each training lasts a week and is divided into two parts: a three-day “core training,” and a two-day thematic workshop.  Here is a description of the core training, which I’ve taken from the Nairobi materials:

The Core Professional Training on Humanitarian Law and Policy begins with a framing of international humanitarian law, contextualizing it within a larger historical, legal and political narrative. The Training situates this legal framework both against the broader background of public international law, on the one hand, and in terms of its interrelationship with human rights law, on the other. The agenda progresses to address actors, modes and methods of implementing IHL, as well as the policy and practical dilemmas associated with these activities. Next the regulation of hostilities, inherent in which is the balancing of military necessity and humanitarian consideration, is addressed. Finally, selected additional topics of particular interest to the professional community (such as private military companies) are presented.

I taught three subjects in the core training: qualification of conflicts (IAC vs. NIAC; internationalized NIACs; dual-status armed conflicts, etc.), targeting of individuals, and the relationship between IHL and international criminal law.  The thematic workshop was then devoted to the problem of children, violence, and armed conflict; I taught a seminar that examined how the recruitment of child soldiers has been prosecuted by international tribunals and domestic courts.

As I said, my week in Nairobi was simply amazing.  My fellow instructors were superb, particularly Naz Modirzadeh, the Associate Director of HPCR; Major Phillip Drew of the Canadian Forces Military Law Centre; and Jamie Williamson, formerly of the ICRC and now a visiting professor at New England Law School.  I also can’t say enough good things about Angharad Laing, the Executive Director of PHAP, and Caterina Luciani, PHAP’s Events and Communication Associate, who organized the training and kept it humming along in Nairobi — no mean feat.

The “students” in the training, though, were what made the week so special.  I put “students” in quotes because, almost without exception, they had vastly more experience (especially in the field) than I.  It’s a cliche that a teacher learns more from her students than the students learn from their teacher — but cliches are often true.  It was an intimidating group: child protection and humanitarian officers with UNAMID in Darfur, MONUSCO in the DRC, and UNAMI in Iraq; humanitarian-affairs analysts and policy advisers working with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) in Somalia and South Sudan; UNICEF officers based in Somalia and Thailand; a UNHCR policy adviser based in Kenya; and many more.  They all seemed to get a great deal out of the training — and their willingness to share their own experiences with us was priceless.

I’ll be in Geneva in December for the next PHAP training (the core agenda is here; the thematic agenda is here) — and I hope to participate in many more trainings in the future.  Needless to say, if you are in the market for an accessible yet sophisticated training course in IHL, you could not do better than one organized by PHAP and HPCR.