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«Humanity can be learned»: With this idea as the guiding principle, the Institute for International Cooperation in Education (IZB) developed «Project Humanity», an innovative school project and e-learning platform for secondary schools on the subject of humanitarian principles. The project originated on behalf of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The foundation éducation21 was involved in an advisory role and included «Project Humanity» in its list of project recommendations for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

First Project Phase: Development of the school project

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The humanitarian principles (humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence) are globally known as the foundation on which all humanitarian action is based. They are central to establishing and maintaining access to civilian populations afflicted by war, armed conflicts, technological disasters and natural disasters. «Project Humanity» links the humanitarian principles to the context of the students' lives by encouraging the reflection of one's own position through in-depth discussions an identifying the value of engaging in these principles. The project development concluded with several pilots in Switzerland and overseas (Lebanon and Serbia).

Second Project Phase: Local and International Implementation

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«Project Humanity» was implemented in different Swiss schools during the second project phase. Furthermore, selected national societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as well as Save the Children implemented the project in different educational fields overseas (e.g. Austria, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

Third Project Phase: Systematic Education and Dissemination

The focus of the third project phase, also mandated by the SDC department for humanitarian aid, is humanitarian education. «Project Humanity» is exemplarily used to train education professionals and humanitarian aid workers in methods that enable them to create educational settings with youth and adults to raise awareness for humanitarian issues, promote opinion-formation and strengthen them in their capacity to act. To this end, IZB, in cooperation with IFRC and relevant international educational partners, has developed a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Pedagogical Approaches for Education in Humanitarian Principles and Values. The first class of the two-year program began in early 2018.