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NEW STANDING
COMMISSION WORKING GROUP ON THE EMBLEM
The Council adopted by consensus resolution 6 on the emblem. It outlines
three important elements for future Movement action:
1) the draft third additional protocol as an acceptable working basis
for the resumption of negotiations,
2) the Diplomatic Conference to be reconvened as soon as circumstances
permit and
3) the promotion of operational cooperation with the National Societies
(NS) not yet recognised due to the emblem problem.
This resolution was the starting point for the Standing Commission as
it defined its future line of action and reconfirmed its determination
to work towards a solution of the emblem problem.
The Movement needs to pursue a twin-track approach: we - the NS, the ICRC
and the International Federation - need to speak with one voice to our
governments reminding them continuously of their obligation and responsibilities.
NS are well placed to influence the actions of their own governments and
to remind them of the importance to bring the process on the emblem to
a successful conclusion. The Movement lacks the decision-making powers
on this issue.
Simultaneously we must develop our cooperation with the NS concerned and
work with them on an equal basis in all operational matters. Both these
lines of action will be mutually supportive of reaching the end goal.
To promote the objectives and line of action in the Council's resolution,
the Standing Commission decided to appoint an ad hoc new working group
to be chaired by its Special Representative on the Emblem, Mrs Christina
Magnuson. Its mandate is to assist in the identification of operational
cooperation initiatives and to support them by ensuring that the value
of these initiatives is well understood by all components in all regions.
The working group is further to support the work of the Standing Commission
to urge states to bring the diplomatic process on the emblem to a successful
conclusion.
Representatives from ten NS, appointed in their personal capacity and
representing their geographical region, have been invited to be members
of the working group. Furthermore representatives from the ICRC and the
Federation participate in the group. The composition will be published
in the next Newsletter or meanwhile on the website. The first meeting
of the group is planned for April 9. We hope to already be able to report
back on further progress at the Berlin conference in April.
FOLLOW-UP OF COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS
The Council passed 12 resolutions and adopted one declaration - all by
consensus. This fact alone demonstrates the unity of the Movement even
in times troubled by serious political events and problems. Now the challenge
is to take the action required.
To ensure that proper steps are taken to transform our intentions to concrete
progress, the Standing Commission will at every meeting take stock of
actions taken on the resolutions. This will facilitate our report-back
to the next Council. The ICRC and the International Federation have been
tasked with a number of lead responsibilities in the resolutions. Much
of the work ahead, however, will be incomplete without corresponding action
and a proper flow of information from NS.
The Seville Agreement (SA) calls for annual reports on its implementation.
This was reaffirmed at the last Council. This time the recommendations
from the Standing Commission's working group on international relief operations
were annexed to the resolution and all components were called upon to
implement these recommendations.
Let me use this opportunity to remind NS of their obligation to report
on their progress regarding the Seville Agreement and the recommendations
to the ICRC and the Federation. The SA is a tripartite agreement. NS are
also parties to it. The SA has had a great impact in promoting operational
cooperation between the components. We want that to continue and - if
possible - to still improve. Therefore NS experiences and views are important
to have and to share.
On the resolution on the Strategy for the Movement I am happy to report
that the printed version seems to be quite a success among NS. We get
almost daily requests for more copies. Some NS are even translating and
printing the Strategy in their own language. Soon the Strategy will also
be available in Russian and Arabic. All this will hopefully contribute
to the integration of the 17 action points into NS own strategies and
plans and thus to achieving the overall goal of improving the cooperation
between all components of the Movement.
The Task Force of NS experts has been appointed to work with the
ICRC and the Federation in monitoring and evaluating the progress made
in the implementation of the Strategy. The group is composed of the following
representatives,
- for Africa,
the Secretary General of Rwanda RCS, Mr Alphonse Kalinganire,
- for Americas,
the Secretary General of the Canadian RCS, Mr Pierre Duplessis,
- for Asia-Pacific,
the Head of Operations of the Philippines RCS, Ms Jelma de la Peña,
- for Europe,
the Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the Norwegian RCS, Ms
Anne Bergh,
- for the
ICRC, the Head of Division for Policy and Cooperation within the Movement,
Mr. Jean-Luc Blondel, and the Head of Evaluation Unit, Mr. Wayne MacDonald,
and
- for the
Federation, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Mr.
Ibrahim Osman, and the Head of Evaluation Department, Mr. Matthew Varghese.
The Standing
Commission's Secretary, Ms Helena Korhonen, chairs the group. They will
meet in May to work out the timetables and mechanisms of collecting information
from NS on progress made regarding the Strategy. The group is also tasked
with evaluation of initial progress recorded and with preparing the report
to the next Council.
'IDPs and Refugees' was the second main theme at the last Council.
Almost all NS are working in this field. Many have special agreements
with external partners such as with UNHCR and their own respective governments.
The Council resolution calls for a number of actions aiming at defining
the roles and responsibilities of the different components. It is vital
that NS inform the ICRC and/or the Federation about their possible co-operation
agreements with external organisations and partners as these institutions
are tasked with consulting and clarifying the terms of Movement co-operation
with UNHCR.
On the resolution dealing with the Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons (CCCW), the ICRC informed the Standing Commission of major
progress. At the review conference in December, a decision had been adopted
extending the field of application of the convention and its protocols
to non-international conflicts. Further, a group of experts are to study
the possibilities to develop an additional protocol on UXO or unexploded
ordnance. Both issues have been high on the ICRC humanitarian agenda and
have involved advocacy and lobbying also by NS. Their active input will
be needed also in the future to ensure ratification of the decisions taken
in December. Additional information on these developments can be found
on the ICRC web site.
I hope NS will study the implications that arise from the above-mentioned
resolutions, especially in regard to the Red Cross/Crescent on-going work
in their respective national contexts. The full texts of the resolutions
have been sent to all NS and will be included in the next issue of the
International Review.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2003 (IC 2003)
The working group on the international conference produced its initial
recommendations on the overall theme, the various issues to be addressed
and the working procedures, including on the election of the Standing
Commission.
Regarding the overall theme, the Standing Commission decided that it should
build around the concept of 'human dignity'. The working group will further
develop the wording.
I encourage NS to express their views on the overall theme. How should
we emphasise the vital message in it? Should we protect or promote or
defend human dignity? As a Movement, we must stick to our humanitarian
mission. With that in mind, we analyse topics and issues from the viewpoint
of victims and beneficiaries, people in vulnerable situations. We also
need to be clear about what we expect from our main partners, the governments.
When discussing the progress report on IC 2003 at the Council, many NS
spoke on the theme and issues to be included on the agenda. They provided
elements, which were later elaborated in the working group. The Standing
Commission has to date established a list of 12 main topics and issues,
which will constitute the base of the agenda and the work for the IC 2003.
They are in random order the following:
- HIV/AIDS
- Civilians
in conflict situations with an emphasis on 'Women in War'
- Disaster
/ Crisis prevention § International Disaster Response Law (IDRL)
- Poverty
specifically addressing the Movement's added value in working with related
issues and with a link to vulnerability
- Preventing
violence/role of Civil Society in peace building
- Migration
and
- Possibly
other, still undefined issues relating to International Humanitarian
Law pending developments.
The agenda
will naturally include a report on how we have implemented the Plan of
Action from the 27th IC, the pledges and progress made in finding a solution
to the emblem issue.
The above list is not all-inclusive nor is it closed. We now look to NS
for their input and feedback. Do we have our priorities right? What do
we need from our governments to promote and facilitate our efforts in
these areas of concern? The working group will still continue to select
issues for the formal commissions and for the more informal, open workshops.
On the working procedures, there will be three parallel commissions. Learning
from our experiences during the Federation's General Assembly and the
Council last year, we still need to make an effort on improving the quality
of the debate in the commissions. External facilitators, modern techniques
and - perhaps the most important - better pre-information to NS on the
topics and issues to be discussed are being looked into.
When coming together at different regional or sub-regional meetings, NS
should have the opportunity to discuss preparations for the Conference.
Not only the theme and issues but also how to best prepare for debates
with the professional negotiators in the government delegations. What
key issues should we as a Movement raise and be ready to see through?
How can we best achieve our set goals? We need to ensure a broad NS participation
before the conference, during the preparatory phase, to find some answers
to these questions.
As in 1999, we will have round tables and workshops. NS are invited to
present their ideas and willingness to take on responsibility for organising
workshops around a preferred theme. The Standing Commission will review
the submitted proposals and make its decisions as to the number of workshops
and topics, keeping in mind the overall theme.
The importance of preparing for the election of Standing Commission members
was underlined. The profile of members - agreed and adopted in 1995 -
was reinforced. The Conference will elect 5 members to the Commission.
The Statutes state that they are to be elected based on their personal
qualifications and the principle of fair geographical distribution. The
role and responsibility of the SC members are to be judged against the
functions of the Commission. It is to act as the trustee of the International
Conference and to deal with matters of concern to the whole Movement.
In addition, the Commission prepares the Council of Delegates and the
International Conference.
As NS are beginning their preparations for the conference, including the
election of the Standing Commission, please visit the annex page which
details the Profile of candidates to the Standing
Commission. It provides a good impression of what the work of a Standing
Commission member entails.
The IC 2003 working group has been asked to develop a uniform form or
CV for presentation of candidates. This form will be sent to NS and governments
well ahead of the conference. The Statutes give the right to nominate
candidates up till even 48 hours before the election. However, as it is
an important election, and NS as well as governments have the right to
vote, the Standing Commission expressed its hope that candidates for the
Commission would be nominated early and well in advance to enable a fair
and equal presentation of them to all conference participants.
With the previous positive experiences of involving a Group of Ambassadors
in the preparations for international conferences, the Commission discussed
and agreed on criteria for inviting such an advisory group. The final
composition will be communicated to you later, as we are still working
on it, to make sure we have a geographically balanced group with our major
external partners and regional organisations well represented. We expect
this group to advise us in the drafting of the agenda and in finalising
the conference topics to ensure the widest possible interest also among
the governments. It goes without saying that we also look to NS and their
continued dialogue with their respective governments.
MEMBERSHIP IN WORKING GROUPS
The Commission has invited Ms Sabira Boratbaeva, Head of Development and
the International Department of the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent Society to
join the IC 2003 working group. The membership of the working group on
the Council of Delegates, chaired by SC member, Mr Tadateru Konoe, was
slightly revised as some NS representatives have moved into new positions.
The following new members are invited to join the group:
- Dr Abel
Peņa y Lillo, President, Bolivian Red Cross
- Ms Neriman
Eweiss, Head of International Department, Kuwait Red Crescent
- Ms Fernanda
Teixeira, Secretary General, Mozambique Red Cross
- Ms Elzbieta
Mikos-Skuza. Head of IHL Committee, Polish Red Cross.
These NS
representatives and members will continue to serve in the working group:
- Mr Tuur
Hoste, Belgian Red Cross
- Mr Xiaohua
Wang, Chinese Red Cross
- Mr Jean-Pierre
Cabouat, French Red Cross
- Mr Hubert
Bucher, Swiss Red Cross.
Ms Angela
Gussing represents the ICRC and Mr Frank Mohrhauer the International Federation
in the working group.
We look forward to continued good co-operation with the whole group. I
encourage NS to contact the members directly to express their views and
wishes regarding the preparations for the next Council of Delegates in
2003.
STANDING COMMISSION FINANCES
In 2001, the total expenditure of the Standing Commission was CHF 556'977.
The ICRC and the Federation contributed with CHF 200'000 each. Voluntary
contributions from NS were CHF 199'186. I would like to thank those NS,
the ICRC and the Federation for their contributions.
The budget for the current year totals CHF 601'000. I look forward to
continued contributions from all components. As our expenses last year
were below the estimated budget, we have accumulated a balance. The NS
that have contributed to our budget for involving NS in the work of the
Standing Commission will be consulted on how this balance should be used.
We will need NS support also this year but will now ask for less than
in previous years.
2002
The current year promises - again - to be a busy one for the Movement.
We have two important regional conferences ahead of us: The European Conference
in Berlin brings 51 NS together to discuss Red Cross/Crescent strategy
and work on two very important themes: 'Health and Care in the Community'
and 'Migration'. The latter theme will certainly help to bring forward
issues, which were raised and discussed already at the Council on IDPs
and Refugees. In late November, NS in the Asia-Pacific will meet in Manila
on the Philippines for their regional conference likewise discussing health
and migration issues but also disaster preparedness in their very disaster
prone region.
These gatherings provide opportunities for all parts of our Movement to
come together and exchange experiences and best practises in working towards
our global goal: to fulfil our humanitarian mission and to improve the
lives of vulnerable people. We can benefit from these gatherings in bringing
some overriding Movement issues to the fore and listen to the views of
NS in their specific contexts and environments. This is of particular
importance for the Standing Commission in its work to promote Movement
wide issues. As we are planning the next International Conference - only
a good year and a half away - NS views on priority issues and needs are
of particular importance to us right now.
Looking forward to meeting some of you in April in Berlin, I encourage
all NS to contact us on any issues in this Newsletter or on Movement matters
in general with their views and opinions. The Standing Commission secretariat
is easily accessible over e-mail standcom@bluewin.ch
or fax number + 41 22 730 2027.
Sincerely yours,
Princess Margriet
Chairman
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