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Impartiality
It makes no discrimination as to nationality,
race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours
to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their
needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress.
Analysis of the Fundamental Principle of Impartiality
The text under the Fundamental Principle of Impartiality includes
the following elements:
- the Movement makes no discrimination - and this does
not apply only to people it assists or protects. Non-discrimination
is the refusal to apply distinctions of an adverse nature to human
beings simply because they belong to a specific category. This
does not exclude differences in the treatment given to people
placed in different situations on the basis of, for example, sex
or age. Five criteria which could lead to discrimination are mentioned:
nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.
However, other factors which may lead to a discrimination are
not mentioned. Depending on circumstances, a different treatment
based on sex may be a discrimination or not.
- all those in need shall be helped, yet to treat everyone in
the same way without taking into account how much they are suffering,
or how urgent their needs are, would not be equitable. Impartiality
means that, for the Movement, the only priority that can
be set in dealing with those who require help must be based
on need, and the order in which available aid is shared out
must correspond to the urgency of the distress it is intended
to relieve.
Consequences of the Fundamental principle of Impartiality
The consequences of the principle of Impartiality are as follows:
- it establishes one of its key values: non-discrimination, which
is one of the most important elements of all aspects of the protection
of the human being: human rights law, humanitarian law, refugee
law.
- although the need to "enjoy the confidence of all" is mentioned
about the principle of Neutrality, this also applies to the principle
of Impartiality. Only an impartial action can give the image of
an organization that can be trusted by people to be assisted or
protected. Therefore, systems have to be put in place to ensure
that the people benefitting from the action of the Red Cross and
Red Crescent are those whose vulnerability is the highest.
- impartiality in its true sense requires that subjective distinctions
be set aside. To illustrate the difference between the two notions:
a National Society that refuses to provide its services to a specific
group of people, because of their ethnic origin, fails to observe
the rule of non-discrimination; whereas a National Society staff
member who, in the exercise of his functions, favours a friend
by giving him better treatment than that given to others, contravenes
the principle of impartiality. Therefore, staff and volunteers
should be trained to ensure that correct behaviour becomes almost
a reflex.
Related links
Reducing Discrimination Initiative
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