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13 November 2001 "There is much debate these days on the relationship between the different civilisations, often also in terms of tensions or even clashes between civilisations. The moment is particularly appropriate indeed to show that the Movement, with its components coming from different civilisations is united, and stands firmly behind the basic principles, which look strangely modern," said the President of the ICRC, Mr. Jakob Kellenberger, yesterday while chairing the meeting of the Movement's Council of Delegates in Geneva. Princess Margriet, Chairman of the Movement's Standing Commission, also drew attention to the importance of continuing to honour the Fundamental Principles. In a speech which marked the opening of yesterday's session, she said : "We need to preserve life and human dignity. We must try to keep the people whom we serve foremost in our minds. Preventing and alleviating suffering is what this is about," she stressed. The Movement's seven Fundamental Principles are Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary service, Unity, Universality. The Council of Delegates, which brings together representatives from the International Federation, its 178 member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the ICRC, is the Movement's highest deliberative body for matters internal to the Movement. The Council had three main priorities following the last Council of Delegates and International Conference, held in 1999 : to promote greater efficiency and cooperation in international relief operations, to develop a strategy for the Movement as a whole and to negotiate a comprehensive solution to the emblem question. Newly-elected Federation President Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro Rivero, reviewed some of the key issues to be debated by the Council of Delegates. The Council, he noted, will cover fundamental issues to help us progress in our work for the most vulnerable, such as a policy for refugees and IDPs, working towards an International Disaster Response Law and following up on previous Council resolutions, such as those on children affected by conflict and street children. Introducing the report of the working group on the overall strategy for the Movement, its chairman, Dr. Claude Jean-François, former president of the Haitian Red Cross, stressed the unique nature of the event. He told the plenary meeting that the proposed strategy was "to be a flexible evolving process which should be monitored every two years by the Council of Delegates". It would be built on the diversity of the Red Cross Red Crescent network and local capacities, brought together through far closer dialogue and cooperation. Mr. Tom Buruku of the Ugandan Red Cross presented the report of his ad hoc group on the conduct of international relief operations to the Council of Delegates, set up as a result of a resolution by the council in 1999. It considered evaluations of four specific operations - the Afghan earthquake, hurricane Mitch, Sierra Leone and the Balkans. He said the report showed the progress is being made but more needed to be done to improve relief for the victims of conflict and natural disasters. That, he believed, would come about through more intense consultation by all the Red Cross Red Crescent components involved in an emergency. There was no single model that could be imposed, he said. Each emergency had its own specific characteristics and required a flexible approach. Preparedness, including the capacity to raise funds, was critical. In the plenary session, Dr. Kellenberger also mentioned the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, which brought death and grief to thousands of American families and plunged the Afghan population into even greater suffering than what they were already enduring. He pointed to the fact that the different components of the Movement reacted immediately to bring compassion and assistance to victims in both instances and called the fact that the population inside Afghanistan remained cut off from humanitarian aid, "unacceptable". "Although the types of challenges and crises change," he said, "the mission of the Movement remains unchanged." Recent events underline the justness and the relevance of our principles today, noted Dr. Kellenberger, pointing to fact that a culturally diverse Movement must stay. "united in a common conception of human dignity." Related links More about the Federation's General Assembly |
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