A/HRC/42/24 8. In certain contexts, the question of which law is applicable creates challenges and tension, particularly when national laws, policies and practices contradict international legal obligations of States. These may be misunderstood or directly or indirectly discriminate against women and girls. In addition, emergency contexts influence the ways in which criminal laws are deployed against certain population groups, such as in the context of counter-terrorism or irregular migration or in relation to certain services or conduct, such as the provision of reproductive health care, sexual conduct between consenting adults, HIV transmission and adultery. Application of a human rights-based approach can play a complementary role in clarifying, identifying, preventing or advocating against such laws and policies. B. Human rights-based approach 9. The experts clarified that a human rights-based approach is based on and seeks to advance international human rights norms and standards. They explained that the main elements of the technical guidance (A/HRC/21/22 and Corr.1 and Corr.2) are valuable for application in humanitarian settings. They provide a unique lens through which to identify gaps and challenges and strengthen humanitarian preparedness, response and transition, as well as identify situations that are contrary to human rights. Experts also observed that a human rights-based approach is similar and mutually necessary to medical ethics and that it can be adaptable to different contexts and phases of an emergency. 10. The discussions revealed a need to raise awareness among a variety of actors working in humanitarian contexts about human rights standards and to demystify what applying a rights-based approach means in practice. For example, rights-based accountability is often perceived as being only concerned with courts, individual liability and blaming service providers, rather than holistically aiming to strengthen health systems and creating enabling environments for the realization of rights. 11. Furthermore, experts emphasized that human rights are for everyone, including health workers. The conditions in which health providers undertake their professional responsibilities, particularly in humanitarian settings, are often precarious, without dependable wages and characterized by high levels of stress. A human rights-based approach exposes these realities and works to identify solutions whereby health workers’ rights are also respected. 12. Experts also noted that affected populations can often be seen in humanitarian settings as “beneficiaries” of services provided as “charity”, rather than this being a matter of rights. It is important to dispel misconceptions about human rights and strategize on how a rights-based approach can best be applied in practice, if not in name. For instance, efforts have been made to bridge the languages of different disciplines and to unpack terminology and concepts in accessible and operational language, which has assisted in ensuring local buy-in and acceptability by providers and affected populations. 13. As more attention today is directed towards applying a human rights-based approach in humanitarian settings, experts also noted that different actors often use the term to describe specific aspects of programmes and their implementation rather than an overall approach. Some elements of the approach, such as understanding accountability to also include effective remedies and redress, may therefore receive less attention. 14. It was observed that human rights violations are a common denominator which underlie and are exacerbated in most humanitarian settings. Incorporating human rights systematically into humanitarian preparedness and response is therefore an important avenue for understanding, recognizing and addressing root causes of crisis and developing sustainable programming. C. Commonalities 15. Experts emphasized that, although the terminology and languages may vary, human rights and humanitarian actors have common goals, frameworks and core principles. 4