Bonnie Docherty, International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School
This post originally appeared on the International Human Rights Clinic website.
Humanitarian disarmament is a well-established means for protecting civilians, but it has faced significant threats over the past few years. An increasing number of armed conflicts, a shifting geopolitical landscape, and a growing disregard for international law have created obstacles to achieving the movement’s objectives.
Nevertheless, humanitarian disarmament campaigners remain committed to their cause: preventing and remediating arms-inflicted human suffering and environmental harm. Given the current context of violence and authoritarianism, this people-centered approach to governing weapons remains as critical as ever.
According to Hine-Wai Loose, director of Control Arms, “It is a moral obligation and so very important that the people who are caught up in the worst of situations know that … someone is out there trying to stop whatever is happening. This is the very least that we owe to [them].”
The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School has released a new 20-page guide entitled Advancing Humanitarian Disarmament: Strategies for Campaigning in Challenging Times. It aims to help campaigners respond to recent developments while moving forward with their work.
To produce the guide, the Clinic interviewed fourteen campaigners, most of whom are engaged with multiple disarmament issues. They are based in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. The Clinic also conducted desk research to provide context for its findings.
The guide identifies four major types of challenges facing humanitarian disarmament today: humanitarian, legal, political, and practical. They range from the bombing and shelling of cities and towns to withdrawals from treaties to prioritization of national security over civilian protection to a decrease in financial resources.
Despite these problems, campaigners interviewed for this guide universally emphasized the value and viability of humanitarian disarmament as an approach for addressing arms-inflicted harm. They argued that the movement has weathered past storms and would survive this one as well.
“It was often at the darkest times that there were breakthroughs,” recalled Alicia Sanders-Zakre, head of policy at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. “We need to communicate more that it was possible before and it is possible now, too.”
The guide focuses on strategies to meet the challenges it lays out and affirm the value of humanitarian disarmament. Messaging should center on hope, appeal to national interests, and place an emphasis on progress. While energizing proponents of humanitarian disarmament, such positive messages counter negative narratives about the state of international law and the world at large.
Partnerships, an essential aspect of humanitarian disarmament, should cut across campaigns, meaningfully involve affected communities and national campaigners, and encompass allies from new groups. Pooling knowledge and resources and increasing coordination strengthens the advocacy position of all.
Advocacy targets, norm-building tactics, and campaign tools should be expanded and updated to reach audiences at the international, national, and local levels. The use of new and creative methods is in keeping with humanitarian disarmament’s history of adapting to evolving circumstances.
By combining these strategies with the community’s sense of solidarity and determination to end civilian suffering, the humanitarian disarmament movement can continue to be a powerful force for change.
In the words of Camilo Serna, deputy director and co-founder of the Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas: “We together, the common people, can do something to strengthen norms and build new norms and try to build a world where we can respect each other.”
Bonnie Docherty, lecturer on law at the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) and director of its Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative, was the lead author of this guide. Victoria Yusupov, JD ’27, and George Tyler, LLM ’26, contributed significantly to the research and writing. Kelsey Ryan, IHRC program and communications manager, did the design.
This post expresses the views of the author and does not purport to represent the views of Harvard University.