Published: 7 November 2005
The 15th session of the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will take place in South Korea, from 11 to 14 November 2005. The General Assembly is the International Federation’s highest decision-making body. Under the theme “Prepared for the future”, 800 delegates, representing more than 180 Red Cross and Red National Societies from around the world as well as members of the Federation Governance, including the President, Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro and the Secretary General, Markku Niskala, will gather in Seoul.
They will hear reports on Red Cross and Red Crescent operations worldwide and decide on new policies and practices and will also vote in presidential and vice-presidential elections. The General Assembly will review the “Federation of the Future” programme which aims to significantly increase the scale and scope of actions to address the world’s most urgent humanitarian issues.
The General Assembly is also expected to adopt a Global Agenda with four goals, meant to contribute significantly to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. These goals are: reducing the impact of disasters on people’s lives, improving methods of dealing with public health challenges worldwide, combating intolerance and discrimination, and building community capacity to prepare for and cope with threats to lives and livelihoods.
The guest speaker at the General Assembly will be Dr David Nabarro, Senior UN Co-ordinator for Avian Flu and Human Influenza who will speak about the challenges facing the humanitarian sector in preparing for a possible flu pandemic. A variety of exhibitions and events are also taking place during the General Assembly. They will include several ceremonies to award medals for outstanding humanitarian action and service.
On 16 and 17 November, the General Assembly will be followed by the Council of Delegates. This event brings together representatives of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, the International Federation Secretariat and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which together form the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Council of Delegates takes decisions on Movement policy.
The two events are being hosted by the Republic of Korea Red Cross, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Editors' notes
• The events will take place at the Coex Conference Centre in Seoul -Press are invited to the Opening Ceremony on November 11th
• For further details regarding registration, please contact Juja Kim in Seoul, at juja@redcross.or.kr
• A press room with facilities will be available throughout the event
• All materials including press releases, speeches, daily updates and web stories will be published on the Federation web site (www.ifrc.org)
• Contact details of communications staff attending the event and copies of the agenda can be requested from the International Federation’s Media Unit in Geneva.