Welcome to the Introduction to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) online course.

In this interactive e‑learning course, you will go through the basic questions relating to the law of armed conflict, or International Humanitarian Law (IHL). You will learn about the origins and sources of this body of law, as well as to which situations it applies. You will also learn how to distinguish international from non-international armed conflicts. You will find out more about the specific rules protecting civilians, detainees, the wounded and sick, as well as medical personnel. 

By the end of this course, you will have a better grasp of the three key principles in IHL that regulate the conduct of hostilities — distinction, proportionality and precautions – and will be able to illustrate how they limit the effects of armed conflict on the civilian population. Finally, you will also learn how IHL is implemented, what happens when violations occur, and what the ICRC’s role is in promoting respect for this body of law. 

	Is this course for me?
	The course does not require any pri­or legal knowl­edge and is prin­ci­pal­ly addressed to human­i­tar­i­an prac­ti­tion­ers, pol­i­cy-mak­ers and oth­er pro­fes­sion­als who are keen on under­stand­ing how and when this body of law applies, and whom it protects.
	How will I ben­e­fit from this course?
	By the end of this course you should be able to: Sum­marise, and explain at a basic lev­el, the rules of IHL. Eval­u­ate sit­u­a­tions, assess how those sit­u­a­tions would be clas­si­fied under IHL, and know where to find the applic­a­ble law. Iden­ti­fy sit­u­a­tions that are at risk of being non-com­pli­ant with IHL and under­stand when addi­tion­al sup­port might be nec­es­sary (e.g. legal advisor).  Recall where to find rel­e­vant infor­ma­tion to sup­port an IHL-informed decision-making.