[8] Some members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines were concerned that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, was only binding on states.

Geneva Call was created in 1998, one year after the Ottawa Treaty was signed, to begin engaging armed non-State actors on the subject of landmines.

This conference, the first of its kind, created a foundation for approaching armed non-State actors about a landmine ban, and served as the official launch of Geneva Call.

The Deed of Commitment process gives them the opportunity to formally express their agreement to abide by humanitarian norms and take ownership of these rules.

[6] Since 2000, Geneva Call has engaged more than 100 armed non-State actors on eight thematic areas and to date 66 groups have signed one of the Deeds of Commitment.

[6] By signing the Deed of Commitment prohibiting sexual violence and gender discrimination, armed non-State actors agree, inter alia, to: Given the increasing number of deliberate attacks on cultural heritage (including on the part of ANSAs), in 2015, Geneva Call started engaging ANSAs on the protection of cultural heritage in situations of armed conflict.

Geneva Call organizes activities addressing the cultural heritage aspect in different contexts, such as Mali, Syria, Iraq and Myanmar.

[6] In recent years, Geneva Call has increasingly provided training sessions and technical advice to armed non-State actors on how to incorporate IHL into their policies, codes of conduct and other internal regulations and on implementation.

From its inception in 2000, Geneva Call has engaged with more than 100 armed non-State actors worldwide and sensitized thousands of their leaders and members on international humanitarian norms.

[17] In addition, a number of armed non-State actors that have not signed the Deeds of Commitment have nevertheless taken steps towards compliance with international standards.

Because of Geneva Call's work with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, some of the organization's activities could be considered illegal under American law.

Geneva Call President at the time Élisabeth Decrey Warner responded that "civilians caught in the middle of conflicts and hoping for peace will suffer from this decision.

[26] In February 2022, Alain Délétroz, Geneva Call’s Director General, claimed that the organization adopts  a "depoliticized talk" approach[27] with ANSAs.

This includes, for instance, the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo,[28] present in North Kivu, the Ukrainian armed non-State actor Azov Special Operations Detachment,[29] and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, based in the Philippines.