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Humanitarian Access in Situations of Armed Conflict: Handbook on the International Normative Framework & Practitioners’ Manual, Version 2

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These practical resources have been developed under an initiative of the Government of Switzerland with support from Conflict Dynamics since the initiative's commencement in 2009. A Consultation Group involving the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has guided and contributed actively in various ways to the development of the resources through all stages.

The resources are designed to address today's challenges in securing and sustaining humanitarian access given the central role access plays in contributing to effective humanitarian assistance and protection.

While humanitarian access is not a new issue, contemporary armed conflicts present new and/or more acute challenges to, as well as some opportunities for, securing and sustaining humanitarian access. The Practitioners' Manual and Handbook are designed to assist humanitarian practitioners, as the main audience, in structuring their approaches to access, toward the ultimate goal of achieving greater humanitarian impact in situations of armed conflict.

The resources are also intended for people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection themselves, officials of affected States and national authorities, parties to armed conflict, international organizations, and donors who support humanitarian action.

These new resources are the result of extensive research, consultations with the intended audience, field case studies, and methodology development since the production of preliminary versions (Version 1) of the resources in November 2011.

The Government of Switzerland and Conflict Dynamics, in collaboration with the other members of the Consultation Group and other humanitarian organizations, are embarking on an active dissemination, uptake and 'support in use' phase which will involve training, support to specific organizations/teams, distance learning modules etc.