Refugees, displaced people and others affected by conflict are vulnerable to harm.

While the idea of protection is often associated with concepts of physical security, it also extends to the idea that harm occurs because of a lack of access to the means of meeting basic needs: food, shelter, clean water, health services.

• Loss of such rights, or denial of access to them, is one of the defining features of displacement and forms part of the root causes of conflict.

The protection and promotion of rights underpins every sector of work the International Rescue Committee is engaged in, starting with the protection implicit in our humanitarian presence in many conflict-affected parts of the world.

All our activities, from supplying clean water to the provision of legal services for displaced communities, can be viewed in terms of facilitating access to rights for the people we work with.

In practice, this translates into a range of activities adapted to local contexts and the needs of those affected by them. For example:

• in Cote d’Ivoire, those manning roadblocks are exposed to training in the rights of villagers needing to reach health centres; medical staff are required to post prices to avoid over-charging;
• in Thailand, Burmese refugees have access to free legal advice to ensure proper access to local courts or alternative local dispute resolution;
• Burundians contemplating return from Tanzanian camps receive information in their kiRundi language about local assistance in places of return.

Other work includes the safe and accessible siting of water-points and latrines in refugee camps to avoid creating conflict or danger; equitable and inclusive distribution of food and other basic items; basic rights and legal training for local police and other law-enforcers to respect the rights of civilians; and information for displaced or returning populations to allow them to take informed decisions and seek remedies to injustice.

Through such work, the IRC seeks to ensure that its field programmes and country strategies take full account of human rights and seek out opportunities to ensure they are respected.

This work is intimately linked to our work with displaced or returning populations and host communities. Throughout, it aims to ensure that, in both emergency and post-conflict settings, it is responsive to their express needs, driven by their priorities and accountable to them.