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In Section 1 of Republic Act 95 (as amended), the PNRC was created to be the voluntary organization officially designated to assist the Philippine government in discharging its obligations set forth in the Geneva Conventions.
To be able to strengthen this role of PNRC, the International Humanitarian law (IHL) Office was set-up on April 2005 as part of its 2004 - 2009 Strategic Directions. This was initiated by the IHL Committee of the Board of Governors, which was created 5 years earlier under the Committee Leadership of Justice leonor Ines Luciano.
The Office is mainly rsponsible for the 1) promotion of the seven principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and basic rules of IHL ; and 2) advocacy of domestic legislation and measures to implement provisions of the Geneva Conventions. In the past, PNRC was only active in dissemination activities.
Currently, it has ten (10) staff divided into three (3) focused teams for: training and disseminations, legislative matters and administrative concerns. Local Chapters nationwide also have a staff responsible for IHL matters.
The Office works closely with the ICRC Cooperation Unit in organizing its annual activities, conferences, training and events.
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