The
Governing Board of the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies meets on a regular basis to take
strategic decisions concerning the organization’s main
areas of action. However, the session to be held from 5 to 7
February departs from the norm in that it will not take place
in Geneva as such meetings usually do, but in Addis Ababa, the
capital of Ethiopia. Moreover, it is set to reaffirm the high
priority accorded to Africa by the Federation in the most earnest
and concrete way possible.
Holding this meeting on African soil is therefore not merely
a symbolic gesture. “By travelling to the heart of Africa,
the leaders of the Federation seek to highlight the ever more
central place that it occupies in its concerns, as a continent
that has enormous reserves of youth and inventiveness, but is
also ravaged by the often combined effect of multiple catastrophes,
such as natural disasters, endemic diseases, epidemics and famine,”
explains Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, President of the
International Federation.
The Algiers Declaration made in 2004 defined the main directions
of the Federation’s work, namely addressing food insecurity,
combating HIV/AIDS and improving health conditions. These priorities
are strongly reaffirmed in the International Federation’s
Global Agenda, which establishes the reduction of the number
of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters as one of its
main goals and emphasises the need to involve local communities
and civil society in the solutions proposed to address poverty
and situations of vulnerability.
In recent years, challenges have arisen on new fronts, which
concern Africa very closely. One obvious example is climate
change, which has major implications for the continent. Year
by year, the desert advances a little further, sudden, irregular
rainfall causes catastrophic floods with devastating effects
on crop yields, which contributes to an increase in famines,
diseases, such as cholera, are rampant and the rural exodus
to big cities exacerbates poverty still further.
These destabilizing factors breed despair and fuel migratory
flows, such as the growing illegal migration from Africa to
Europe, which leaves a trail of tragedies in its wake, as thousands
of migrants fleeing from the unbearable hardships of everyday
life drown in the sea or die of exhaustion before they reach
the end of their voyage.
Being better prepared for disasters and thereby reducing the
impact of the effects of climate change is therefore an inescapable
requirement, if the international community is to have a chance
of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which is, at
the present time, far from the case.
By the same token, it is unrealistic to expect to be able to
eradicate diseases as devastating as HIV/AIDS without involving
local communities.
This is why the meeting in Addis Ababa should confirm that the
intensification of Red Cross and Red Crescent efforts must involve
strengthening the capacities of African National Societies.
Africa has been defined as a clear priority in the International
Federation’s Global Appeal for 2007. The launch of a Global
Programme for Africa will also be discussed in the Ethiopian
capital. It will aim at scaling up coverage, quality and impact
of the programmes of African National Societies.
Such development is largely based on the training of volunteers
from the community, who are the only ones capable of reaching
the most vulnerable people with prevention messages, which will
contribute to gradually reversing the current trend. Who could
deny, for example, that Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers
play a major role in the fight against malaria?
Not only do they distribute thousands of mosquito nets, they
also work untiringly, year after year, to ensure that families
continue to use them properly and that children are vaccinated
against other diseases, such as measles, which can be easily
prevented through vaccination. It is largely thanks to their
work that the number of deaths from measles has fallen by 75
per cent in Africa since 1999.
Through its efforts to strengthen the means available to African
National Societies to improve the work they do, create operational
alliances when necessary to avoid duplicating efforts and increase
effectiveness and develop reliable, standardized evaluation
systems, the International Federation works with the African
people day by day to improve the lives of those living on this
continent.
“The extraordinary meeting of the Governing Board in Addis
Ababa is an opportunity to highlight this situation and intensify
mobilization in order to reverse the tide of disease and poverty
in Africa,” concludes International Federation President
Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro.
More than a slogan, this is a specific priority that the Federation
will address with all its vigour and determination in the months
and years to come.
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Africa
and the fight against HIV and AIDS are among the main
priorities for the International Federation in 2007. The
meeting in Addis Ababa should confirm that the intensification
of Red Cross and Red Crescent efforts must involve strengthening
the capacities of African National Societies.(p-MWI0035)
(Yoshi Shimizu)
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Who
could deny, for example, that Red Cross and Red Crescent
volunteers play a major role in the fight against malaria?
Not only do they distribute thousands of mosquito nets,
they also work untiringly, year after year, to ensure
that families continue to use them properly. (p15323)
(John Haskew)
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