Reconstruction Coordination and the efforts related to resonstruction
Statement delivered by Encho Gospodinov, International Federation delegate to the UN, to the United Nations General Assembly, 56th session, New York
26 November 2001





Mr. President,

Thank you for giving me the floor to offer some reflections on the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance from the point of view of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Given the challenges that lie ahead for the humanitarian organisations and, indeed, the international community as a whole, as a result of the recent developments in Afghanistan and the need for us all to do our utmost to provide assistance to the people of that country, the question of co-ordination of this assistance and of the efforts related to reconstruction and rehabilitation, makes it all the more necessary to develop a shared understanding of what co-ordination is and can be.

Co-ordination is primarily about partnership - amongst the agencies, between agencies and individual governments - whether in countries where activities are carried out or those who provide resources - and, not least, between agencies and their beneficiaries. Today I wish to focus on partnerships between agencies.

Such partnerships are important for a number of reasons. In the first place, the needs of the people we aim to serve - the most vulnerable, the beneficiaries, the poor, or otherwise described - are multifaceted and change over time: there is no single agency that can cover them all at all times. This is not only a question of resources, but of the requirement of all of us that we focus on that which we are best at and not venture into activities for which we are less well equipped, or of which we have inadequate understanding.

Over the relatively recent past, most humanitarian agencies have begun to re-focus themselves on their core activities. Undoubtedly, this is partly a result of what the donors wish to happen, but clearly it also makes sense from the point of view of the beneficiaries and, not least, from the point of view of host governments.

This is not to say that focus is entirely unproblematic: the expansion of activities of many agencies, including ourselves, has at least in part been a response to a perception of important needs that have gone unfilled and which we, on humanitarian grounds, have tried to do something about. Withdrawing from activities outside our core "mandate" is not going to make those needs go away, nor ensure that someone else takes the necessary action.

It is in this context that the notion of better and more strategic partnerships between agencies as the basis for co-ordination is so important: the exchange of information and analysis, the common understanding of what the situation is that we should deal with, the voluntary allocation of roles and responsibilities based on mutual understanding and respect among all actors.

The humanitarian agencies of the United Nations, together with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and with representatives of the NGO community are fortunate in having available to them the InterAgency Standing Committee which, over the years, has become an important tool for the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance, not least in the role it has in allowing discussion of issues with which we are faced in many crisis situations, developing methodologies, and - not least - achieving the mutual respect and understanding I referred to previously. With this tool available to us, we are increasingly realising that only through partnership - also on a bilateral basis - can some of the most serious difficulties faced by individual men and women placed by fate in difficult circumstances be resolved.

As an example, let me refer to a specific situation. As we all know, this year marked the 15th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. Who, at the time it happened, would have thought that the consequences would still be with us so many years later? And that the needs of the affected populations would still be of a nature requiring many agencies to work on the various aspects of the response?

The IFRC's support for the activities of the National Red Cross Societies of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine at first concentrated on screening food supplies and the surrounding environment through radiometric testing. But through several strategic adjustments, based on reviews of the situation and the needs, it is now focussed on for medical screening, with a special focus on children and people who were children at the moment of the accident, and with an important element of psycho-social support.

Over the recent past, the UN has reviewed its involvement in Chernobyl related activities, and made important changes to its strategic approach. In 2002, the IFRC plans to execute a major evaluation to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact of the intervention to date, and make further adjustments to its programme of support for the National Red Cross Societies involved. We do expect, however, that the programme in the future will include continuation and further development of the medical component, an increased focus on rehabilitation and psycho-social support and, not least, recasting the programme as an integral component of the Belarus, Russian and Ukrainian Red Cross longer-term development plans.

In developing our thinking and action in relation to Chernobyl, the IFRC will continue to work with the UN, the Governments of the affected countries and other organisations, with whom we have had excellent co-operation and dialogue in this regard. We will also look to, and reinvigorate, a constructive dialogue with our partners among those who are able to provide resources for these activities. Obviously, the primary concern of the IFRC is to ensure that essential services are provided to the affected populations. But we also believe that there are other reasons why such services - provided by us or someone else - should be supported.

One of the most important of these is the need for the international community to continue the learning process needed to ensure that it is adequately prepared the next time a comparable disaster occurs. We have no doubt that it will, sooner or later, and the experiences of responding to Chernobyl need to be absorbed, analysed and brought to bear in that event. For our part, we have already seen positive spin-offs from the programme in using the expertise and knowledge accumulated in assessing health problems associated with the Semipalatinsk complex in Kazakstan, where nuclear radiation also has been an issue. By building experience and knowledge, and by institutionalising this, we believe, the levels of preparedness - both national and international - will be enhanced.

Allow me to re-visit the current situation in Afghanistan. Whilst I - as many other speakers - have spoken of the need to co-ordination of humanitarian assistance, Afghanistan supplies an example of the need to co-ordinate humanitarian and development work. Much ink has been used already to describe the need for post-conflict rehabilitation and re-construction after the current military confrontation is over and, hopefully, stability has returned to the country.

The point I wish to make is that we - that is the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies- have now spent more than a decade on post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction in Afghanistan. Admittedly, this process has been punctuated and disturbed by recurring military and political conflict, by a series of natural disasters including earthquakes, landslides and drought. Clearly, the Afghan Red Crescent has been affected by these developments, not least at the level of its leadership. We do believe, however, that the ability of the Afghan Red Crescent Society to continue to build its presence and its activities - primarily through its network of 48 or more health clinics - at the local level is evidence of the resilience of Afghan communities and their dedication to creating a better future for themselves and their children.

Even more, the coincidence of extremely destructive and disruptive developments at the higher levels with positive and constructive progress at the local, suggest that we need to look, again, at the relationship between emergency interventions and longer-term support. We need, together, to re-conceptualize this and begin to build better ways of responding to both development needs and to emergencies, recognising that the two are inextricably linked. Perhaps the forthcoming International Conference on Financing for Development in Mexico would be an opportunity to do so.

The issues described in this statement are a small sample of the reasons why the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has come to be seen as a strong uniting force in the dialogue between the intergovernmental community, States and non-government organisations. The IFRC's place in the co-ordination of so much of the assistance that moves to beneficiaries after disasters, and its place in disaster preparedness aimed at minimising the impact of disasters is well known. Also well-known is the work of the IFRC and the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the world in ensuring that disaster preparedness measures, including the training of local populations are properly planned and in place.

It is this position that has led the IFRC to promote an initiative to examine the state of International Disaster Response Law, or IDRL. The IFRC has spoken of this initiative several times in recent years, noting that important parts of the initiative spring from the publication of some of the issues involved in the World Disasters Report in 2000.

I will not go into detail on the subject today, for the subject requires special attention in its own right. I should say, however, that the Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement decided, on 13th November 2001 in Geneva, to proceed with the initiative with a view to placing a substantive report on IDRL before Governments and National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies when they meet for the 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent at the end of 2003.

This report, broadly speaking, will identify the current state of IDRL and point to lacunae and other problems which might deserve special attention. The Council of Delegates, in adopting this decision, took account of the work being done on lacunae already identified and the urgency attached by many international organisations and States to the setting of a proper and full legal framework in this field. In this context, the Council also heard of the work being done under OCHA auspices on International Urban Search and Rescue, a topic of profound importance to the International Federation and the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The IFRC hopes to produce further information on this issue for States as well as National Societies shortly, and undertakes to keep the General Assembly and other parts of the United Nations family fully up to date as this important subject area evolves.

Thank you, Mr. President.