UN Human Rights Council 62: UK General Comment on the draft resolution on the protection of healthcare in armed conflict

Thank you, Mr President,

Ten years ago, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286, a landmark commitment to protect the wounded and sick, and the medical and humanitarian personnel caring for them during armed conflict. Yet in 2025, the number of medical personnel and patients killed in conflict zones reached record levels. This is appalling.

The UK calls on all parties to armed conflict to comply fully with international humanitarian law. We are proud to co-chair a workstream of the Global Initiative on International Humanitarian Law.

We thank the delegation of Qatar for its constructive engagement on draft resolution L.26 and sincerely appreciate efforts made to address several of our comments during negotiations.

We share the objective of protecting medical personnel and medical facilities in armed conflict and of calling for international law to be respected. However, we wish to clarify our position on elements of the text.

While international humanitarian law and international human rights law are often referred to as complementary, they remain distinct legal frameworks with different sources, scope and obligations. Preserving that distinction is essential to maintaining legal clarity and the coherent application of international law.

We note that international humanitarian law provides specific protections for the wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, rather than establishing a freestanding right to health care. Parts of the resolution could be read as seeking to extend or modify existing legal obligations beyond their established scope.

We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to protecting medical personnel, medical facilities, and civilians including humanitarian personnel in armed conflict. We also reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the progressive realisation of the enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Thank you.