A/RES/56/217 Additional Protocols thereto, of 8 June 1977, 11 to ensure the security and protection of all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, Expressing concern that the occurrence of attacks and threats against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel is a factor that increasingly restricts the ability of the Organization to provide assistance and protection to civilians in fulfilment of its mandate and Charter, Recalling the inclusion of attacks intentionally directed against personnel involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter as a war crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted on 17 July 1998, 12 and noting the role that the Court could play in appropriate cases in bringing to justice those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law, Noting that the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, which entered into force on 15 January 1999,13 has been ratified by fiftyfive Member States as at the present date, Mindful of the need to promote universality of the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, Reaffirming the fundamental requirement that appropriate modalities for the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel be incorporated into all new and ongoing United Nations field operations, Increasingly concerned at the need to ensure adequate levels of safety and security for United Nations personnel and humanitarian personnel and a culture of accountability at all levels, from the highest to the lowest, throughout the United Nations system, and in this regard commending the recent efforts by the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes aimed at the improvement of security management and training of their personnel, Commending the courage and commitment of those who take part, often at great personal risk, in humanitarian operations, especially of locally recruited staff, Guided by the relevant provisions on protection contained in the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 13 February 1946, 14 the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies of 21 November 1947, 15 the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 16 and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, and Amended Protocol II of 3 May 1996 17 to the Convention on Prohibitions and Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons _______________ 11 Ibid., vol. 1125, Nos. 17512 and 17513. A/CONF.183/9. 13 Resolution 49/59, annex. 14 Resolution 22 A (I). 15 Resolution 179 (II). 16 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973. 17 CCW/CONF.I/16 (Part I), annex B. 12 3