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11 December 2002 The secretary general of the International Federation, Didier Cherpitel, has held talks in New York with his United Nations counterpart, Kofi Annan, with the global campaign against HIV/AIDS, the situation in Iraq and a more effective framework for disaster response among the key topics. During the 35 minute meeting at the UN headquarters on December 9, Cherpitel highlighted the essential work that Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were doing in some of the world's most troubled areas, such as Iraq and the Palestinian territories, and in regions devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, such as southern Africa. Annan explained how the UN was tackling some of these same humanitarian challenges. The issue of better coordination of humanitarian assistance in times of natural disasters was also raised, as well as the Federation role in identifying the existing "hard" and "soft" laws covering natural disasters and analyzing how they affect the delivery of humanitarian assistance around the world. Cherpitel expressed the Federation's desire that Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies be given access to money from the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS, to finance their community-based programmes, which make use of the great potential of millions of volunteers worldwide to combat the pandemic. "Mr. Annan was very receptive and interested to hear Didier's comments," said Encho Gospodinov, head of the the Federation's office in New York, who was present at the meeting. "He said he would like to keep the dialogue open between the UN and the Federation on this matter." Cherpitel also pointed out the pioneering role the Federation has played in elaborating a code of ethics on assisting victims of HIV/AIDS. The Federation secretary general also raised a number of urgent humanitarian challenges - among them the explosive situation in the Middle East and the severe food crisis in southern Africa that is complicated by HIV/AIDS and drought. Annan outlined the UN position on Iraq, while Didier Cherpitel raised the Federation's concerns about the potential difficulties for large foreign groups currently in Iraq, who might find themselves in a difficult situation if the situation deteriorates into a full-fledged conflict. The meeting, Cherpitel's third with the UN Secretary general over the last three years, took place as the 57th session the of the UN General Assembly was drawing to a close. This session was particularly important for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and their Federation, as it dealt with a large number of issues - such as health, development, capacity building, disaster preparedness, disaster mitigation and HIV/AIDS - that are at the core of Red Cross/Red Crescent work around the world. This year alone, the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was reflected in some 15 UN documents, including two resolutions and six reports by the secretary general. The Berlin Charter, issued at the conclusion of the 6th European Regional Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent last April in Berlin, was registered as a UN document in six languages and distributed to all governments in the world. |
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