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International
Conference 2003
It is coming! We are working hard to ensure it will be a successful one.
For that we need your involvement, views and participation.
The dates have been changed. The good news is that all statutory meetings
next year, including the Federation's General Assembly, will require us
to stay in Geneva for 9 days only - and that includes the Conference!
The new dates are:
- General
Assembly Nov. 28-30
- Council
of Delegates Dec 1-2
- International
Conference Dec 2-6
The other
good news is that we have to focus carefully on exactly what we want from
these meetings and to ensure there is good coordination in the planning
of the different agendas.
International Conference: Theme & substance
We are building around 'protecting human dignity' as the theme. Two sub-themes
are proposed:
- Respect
the law and
- Reduce
vulnerability to disease and disasters
The first
one focuses on challenges within International Humanitarian Law (IHL),
which the Movement faces in the changing environment of armed conflict
and terrorism. We also want to bring forward the concept of International
Disaster Response Law (IDRL).
The second sub-theme touches on important issues for National Societies
and their work: identifying and reducing risks associated with disasters,
communicable diseases and discrimination. We want to talk about capacity
building in partnership with our governments. How do we build capacity
to implement effectively and to contribute to development of Civil Society?
We have received valuable views from some NS for the further development
of the substance. In September, we will send to you the draft concept
paper as it stands then. Needless to say - we both want and need your
input!
It is important that we as a Movement take ownership of the Conference.
We have a unique forum where we discuss directly with governments - let's
make the best of it.
The sub-themes and issues are not yet cast in stone. We have time to work
on them and we have time to focus on what is essential.
The 26 Ambassadors in our advisory group gave us their message: be clear
on what you want, focus and bring the reality of the field into the Conference.
That is our challenge.
Workshops
The plan is to have 6-8 workshops, relating to the main theme and issues
even though they are 'outside' the formal agenda. You will be approached
sometime in September for workshop ideas and willingness to take on the
responsibility for organising them. The Commission expressed a wish for
regional cooperation both in proposing ideas and in organising the workshops.
Four SC members will leave
Out of the five elected National Society members in the Standing Commission,
four of us will not be candidates for re-election in December 2003.
In addition to myself, Christina Magnuson, Tadateru Konoe and Abdul Rahman
Al-Swailem will leave our places to new members.
We all share the hope that National Societies begin to look for candidates
as soon as possible. We need experienced Red Cross/Crescent persons, who
are willing to contribute time and serious work to our Movement for at
least the coming four years.
We have agreed in the Commission to ask all candidates to fill in a nomination
form, which will make it easier for NS as well as for governments to acquaint
themselves with the candidates. You can find the nomination
form annexed to this Newsletter in PDF format. I would also like to
refer you to the Profile of members, which we shared with you already
in March of this year.
For easy reference, we will post all the nomination forms on the Movement's
website as we receive them to the Secretariat.
A personal note on the coming elections: Christina Magnuson and myself
hope that there will be a gender balance in the Commission! In addition,
we must also aim for a geographical balance.
There is also the Council…
With a very short Council in 2003, we have to prepare it in close
cooperation and coordination with the other meetings. The Standing Commission's
working group on the Council met in June and analysed carefully the feedback
you gave us from the last Council. There are lessons to learn - and we
will try our best to do so.
The fact that we have only a 1,5 day Council is a dilemma when NS call
for more debate and discussions, for deeper participation and exchange
- and more focus. We just have to find the right balance meeting these
different expectations.
We want to ensure that we are well prepared as a Movement for the Conference.
In addition we are looking for 1-2 themes, which could set the tone for
our discussions, in commissions and in linking vital Movement issues to
the Conference agenda. The working group brainstormed on this and produced
a good list of options. Additional views and suggestions from you would
of course be welcomed!
The group also looked at how to improve our decisions and resolutions.
The aim is to be clearer on what exactly we want the various components
to do and to achieve. Consistency with previous resolutions and Movement
policies is important.
In due course we will share guidelines on this with you and see what you
feel and how you would improve National Societies' participation in drafting
the decisions and resolutions.
On the emblem
The Working Group on Resolution 6 from the CoD met in April. This
resolution refers to our work on the emblem. The group is advising and
supporting the Commission in its 'two-track' approach on the emblem issue.
Firstly, we continue to work with governments with the aim of convening
the diplomatic conference - circumstances permitting - to discuss and
adopt the draft third protocol. Secondly, we want to promote operational
cooperation with Societies affected by the emblem issue.
The overall situation is presently not promising any quick solutions.
The universality of our Movement as well as full respect for the protective
emblems in all ongoing and possible future conflicts are at the core of
this issue. Both need to be resolved.
The emblem continues to be of great concern for the Commission. It reflects
also on the preparations of the upcoming International Conference.
All Commission members recommitted to the line of action and the strategy
agreed in February of this year.
Mrs. Christina Magnuson continues as the Special Representative and chair
of the WG. I urge all NS and all individuals, who are helping us and contributing
to reaching a solution to keep Christina Magnuson fully informed of any
initiatives planned or taken or of significant discussions held around
this issue. The easiest way to do so is to e-mail the Standing Commission's
secretariat at standcom@bluewin.ch
What's happening with the Movement Strategy?
The Expert Group appointed to monitor and evaluate the implementation
of the Strategy has developed a Framework
for its work up to the Council in 2003. The framework is attached for
your easy reference in PDF format.
I do hope that the Movement Strategy is, or will be, an integral part
of your National Society's planning! In aiming for better internal Movement
cooperation and coordination, all components are called upon to do their
part. The ICRC and/or the International Federation are asked to lead on
a number of actions outlined in the Strategy. This does not exclude NS
actions and initiatives.
The Commission encourages NS to appoint a Focal Person for the Strategy
for internal promotion and follow-up and for providing the link to the
Expert Group.
Certain priority actions in the Strategy were agreed. While all 17 actions
are important, for the sake of evaluating progress in relation to the
strategic objectives, special focus will be given to
- Action
1: Movement approach to capacity building
- Action
3: Integrity and compliance with fundamental principles
- Action
5: Enhanced dialogue and consultations within the Movement
- Action
7: Better response and coordination in emergencies
- Action
11: Building consistent and coherent image
- Action
15: Relations with key military and political players.
The expert
group is looking to NS for their experiences in working with the Strategy.
We also need expert assistance in the work to be done: it would be of
great importance to have for example staff-on-loan from NS to assist in
developing the planned questionnaire and other tools in monitoring and
evaluating progress. Such persons would be invited to work with the respective
expertise at the ICRC and the Federation Secretariat.
Again - our secretariat will be pleased to receive any such offers. Please
also keep the regional NS representative in the Expert Group, who is closest
to you, informed of any work you do, successes or lessons learnt in implementing
the Strategy.
To refresh your memory they are Anne Bergh, Norway, Jelma de la Peña,
the Philippines, Pierre Duplessis, Canada and Alphonse Kalinganire, Rwanda.
Follow-up of Council resolutions from 2001.
The Commission is developing a more systematic way of following up actions
expected in the adopted resolutions. The ICRC and the International Federation
are working on the different resolutions - 12 in total. To present a comprehensive
picture of how well we have fared in fulfilling our obligations as a Movement,
we would like to know also what NS are doing in the process.
In November the Commission will review a complementary questionnaire for
NS to collect information on activities regarding the resolutions. You
will receive it sometimes during the first half of next year. This, I
hope, will greatly facilitate our reporting back to the Council in 2003.
Meetings in 2003
It is a well-known fact that when we have an International Conference
coming up, all preparations are stepped up not only in Geneva but also
in NS.
The Commission, being in charge of preparing the Conference, has agreed
to have up to four meetings in 2003. The time is largely dictated by formalities
in the preparatory process - timelines are set in the Statutes and Rules
of Procedure. We will meet on
- February
17-18
- June 18-19
- September
23-24 and
- tentatively
still on November 27.
Movement
website
When did you last have a look at the site on www.redcross.int?
It does already have all documents and relevant information from the Council
last year, it has all the SC Newsletters, the Movement Strategy is there,
to mention but a few.
We would like to develop it into a real communications tool on Movement
matters especially with NS governance and management and for both ICRC
and Federation delegations in the field. It could be used for more efficient
information sharing. It could be interactive in allowing for feedback,
ideas and experiences on important work under progress. Examples on such
processes could be implementing the Movement Strategy and preparations
for the Conference.
A small working group has prepared a proposal to do all this. We are just
facing one concern: while the technology is there, the resources still
need to be found. We will approach you with specific proposals regarding
this in August. The Commission certainly agreed to pursue the development
process provided adequate resources are available.
Have a nice summer!
At least in the 'Northern Hemisphere' the holiday season is here.
The Movement is continuously facing big challenges and tasks all over
the world. To be able to do a good job, we need to take good care of our
people - staff and volunteers alike. For those of you now on holiday,
I wish you relaxing times. For those remaining on the job, in offices
as well as out in action, my best wishes for success.
Sincerely yours,
Princess Margriet
Chairman
Annex:
Nomination form for
election of members to the Standing Commission at the International Conference
of the Red Cross Red Crescent in 2003
Framework for Monitoring and
Evaluation of the Implementation of the Strategy for the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
Both documents are presented as PDF files and to view them, you need Adobe
Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have it, you can find the reader
and installation instructions by clicking here.
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