18 September 2009With millions of lives around the world being devastated by ongoing conflicts, the Red Cross believes inspiring the next generation of active
humanitarian citizens is a job that should be taken seriously.This year's Red Cross youth camp exploring international humanitarian law (IHL) – the rules that apply in wartime to prevent
crimes such as recruitment of child soldiers, rape and wilful destruction of civilian life – took place at the end of August in the remote Serbian town of Vrnjacka Banja.Alison
MacDougall, a teacher at St Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian, accompanied three pupils to the IHL youth camp. She said: "We cannot afford to overlook the importance of this subject
– one that teaches the true meaning of humanity; that encourages young people to feel empathy for all, without discrimination; that makes them sit up and take action against injustice."Crimes of warPupils and teachers from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Estonia, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Scotland met for four days to share and explore ways
of teaching IHL to young people through workshops, debate and drama.One of the students from St Kentigen's Academy said: "This camp made us think about working or volunteering for
the Red Cross in later life. It's really amazing that other countries have IHL as a subject at school."Alison added: "Until IHL becomes a recognised subject in its own right, firmly embedded
in every school, in every country, can we honestly say we are doing all we can to address ignorance about social injustice and the crimes of war?"Geneva Conventions"Perhaps the
difference is that countries which have a strong culture of teaching IHL – such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Croatia – have painfully recent memories of the devastation and
atrocities war brings in its path," Alison continued. "It has been over 60 years since we lived through a war on our own shores; perhaps we grow complacent. However, in today's turbulent
political climate, can we afford to continue to close our eyes to the suffering around us? "As a Bosnian colleague pointed out, if people in his country had known that IHL existed during the
war, perhaps more people would have acted against injustice – knowing that they had the Geneva Conventions on their side. We tend to get comfortable in our bubble of safety – but we should
be very aware that the bubble can burst at any time, and if so, we should certainly want our young people to be educated, motivated and able to make a change."Browse our teaching resources on IHLFind out more about protecting people in
conflict
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Somali women sit at a food distribution point on the outskirts of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, September 17, 2009. Somali insurgents detonated two suicide car bombs at an African Union (AU) peacekeeping ...
