New York, 12-13 December 2019
The First Vice-President of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, Dr. Elzbieta Mikos-Skuza, visited the United Nations in New York upon invitation by the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations.
On 13 December, she met States which have accepted the competence of the IHFFC. The meeting was organized by the Group of Friends of the Commission at the United Nations, and in particular by the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Group, the United Kingdom, Poland and Argentina. The purpose of the meeting was to update States on the work of the IHFFC and to introduce them to, and seek their suport for, the Group of Friends as one way to make the Commission better known and used in practice. It was a well-attended and very productive session with many questions and suggestions raised, particularly with regard to the role of the UN mechanisms and institutions in order to support the use of the IHFFC.
On 12 December, Dr. Elżbieta Mikos-Skuza, in her capacity as the Director of the Network for Humanitarian Action at the University of Warsaw and a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Natolin, briefed representatives of non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in 2019 and 2020 on the situation in Ukraine from an International Humanitarian Law perspective. An important part of the briefing was devoted to the discussion of the 2017 operational mission by the IHFFC and the potential future role of the IHFFC in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
Finally, the Vice-President of the Commission held a very constructive meeting with the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross at the United Nations in New York.
