Twenty years after the adoption of the four Geneva Conventions in 1949, the concerned world humanitarian organisations and in particular the ICRC, felt the need to develop these humanitarian treaties. After several preliminary meetings with experts from various governments and National Societies, the ICRC came to the conclusion that it would not be appropriate to revise the 1949 Conventions, but that two additional Protocols should be drawn up. The first should deal with “international armed conflicts” and the second with “non-international armed conflicts”. Both Protocols were intended to complement and supplement the Geneva Conventions. They are the outcome of prolonged and diversified discussions among high-ranking Red Cross and Red Crescent officials and government representatives who all attempted to find new solutions for gaps in the Geneva Conventions, thereby taking into account developments on the world political scene.