ABSTRACT
The ICRC has played a unique role in the development of international humanitarian law (IHL). (It has undertaken activities to disseminate information about IHL and has worked to implement it as well.) It is not the only organization which has attempted to promote legal developments regarding humanitarian protection and human rights in armed conflict. The ICRC has, however, been a catalyst in the development of IHL dating back to the nineteenth century (1864), and is widely recognized as “the guardian of IHL,” although there is much ambiguity about that role.
