Exploring Humanitarian Law (EHL) was developed on the premise that education in international humanitarian law (IHL) is relevant, meaningful, and useful for young people in all societies. The subject is pertinent and timely everywhere - regardless of a particular country's experience of armed conflict or other situations of violence - for a number of reasons:

1. Armed conflicts and other situations of violence are taking place in many parts of the world today and young people are increasingly affected by them.
2. Many societies appear to be becoming more prone to various forms of violence.
3. Young people, in greater numbers than ever, are exposed to media coverage of such violence as well as to forms of entertainment that downplay the effects of violence.
4. In times of acute social and political tensions, such as post-conflict situations or periods of social reconstruction, education programmes such as EHL may have an indirect pacifying effect.
5. States party to the Geneva Conventions have an obligation, both in times of peace as in times of war, to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law (IHL) as widely as possible, including to the civilian population. The world's 194 States have all ratified the Geneva Conventions, making those treaties the first in modern history to achieve universal acceptance.

EHL seeks to help young people embrace the principles of humanity in their daily lives.

In particular, it fosters:

• understanding of the need to respect life and human dignity;
• understanding of humanitarian issues and of the various aspects of IHL as well as the complexities of its application;
• interest in international current events and humanitarian action and the ability to analyse them knowledgeably;
• capacity to view conflict situations at home and abroad from a humanitarian perspective;

More generally, EHL contributes to developing social awareness in young people and sharpens their sense of civic responsibility. EHL emphasizes the importance of protecting life and human dignity during armed conflict and, by extension, at all times. Thus, it makes a unique contribution to citizenship education at every level: local, national and global. It can be used in any political context and educational system, and its flexible framework allows for easy incorporation of future developments in IHL.

The content of EHL is related to academic subjects such as civics, social studies, philosophy, history, law, and literature. Its teaching methods reinforce many important academic and life skills such as communication, disagreeing respectfully, reasoning, research, problem-solving, and critical thinking.