Although the Cold War is gone, its legacy of arms and firepower still plagues the world. Victims of conflict situations include refugees, internally displaced persons as well as people trapped inside conflict zones. The protection of civilians in armed conflicts is clearly provided for in humanitarian law. The 1949 Geneva convention relating to the protection of civilian persons in time of war along with the two Additional Protocols of 1977 provide international guidelines for the provision of assistance to victims of armed conflicts. These guidelines emphasize that help must be neutral, impartial and humanitarian.
Neutrality implies a refusal to take sides.
Impartiality implies that aid is given only on the basis of need. Similarly, the humanitarian principle upholds the protection of life and the relief of human suffering as the sole purpose of interventions by the international community. There should be no discrimination or differentiation in humanitarian assistance on the basis of religious affiliation or gender or political persuasions. We remain seriously concerned over current trends to link humanitarian assistance to such extraneous issues as the social norms or customs or religious views of the people concerned or affected by a conflict. Such a linkage is violative of humanitarian principles and could seriously erode the credibility of the humanitarian agencies in the field.