24 April 2025
What if games could become a powerful tool for raising awareness of humanitarian issues? This is the bold challenge taken up by the International Humanitarian Law Game (IHL Game) project, an initiative developed by the Humanitarian Aid of the Luxembourg Red Cross, in collaboration with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), the Centre de Recherche sur les Médiations (CREM) at the University of Lorraine, the Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR) and the Lycée Josy Barthel in Mamer.
International humanitarian law (IHL) is often perceived as complex and reserved for specialists, yet it lies at the heart of armed conflicts and the protection of civilian populations. The IHL Game project aims to make IHL accessible, practical and alive through games.
The idea was to engage secondary school students and raise their awareness of humanitarian values during workshops to design a board game prototype. The project offered students the chance to become creators of educational content themselves, by developing games that confront players with situations inspired by armed conflicts. Using cards, boards, dice and immersive scenarios, the students translated the principles of IHL into fun, accessible and powerful experiences.
Yesterday, the project’s closing event took place on the LIST premises, in the presence of students, teachers and partners who had come to discover the fruits of this wonderful adventure. On this occasion, the games designed by the students were presented to the public.
Well done to the students for their remarkable work and to the teams who supported them in this human and educational adventure.
