HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases are taking their toll mainly on vulnerable people. Improving health legislation and policy are areas, where much still remains to be done. The Conference will focus on the need to reduce vulnerabilities also though such actions.

Fighting discrimination and intolerance continues to be very important today. It also contributes to reducing the impact of diseases, as stigmatisation and other forms of discrimination push people in dire need of help outside society and available services.

In all of the mentioned issues and questions, it is essential to also address partnerships between NS and their governments. How can this crucial link best be developed and used to build the capacity of NS to effectively address these concerns through their programme delivery?

We are working hard on the expected outcome documents of the Conference. We envisage at this point a declaration and an ‘implementation plan’ (name to be confirmed). The first would address some general, overriding concerns such as reaffirmation of existing IHL. The implementation plan would outline concrete actions relating to the two sub-themes referred to above.

These outcome documents would require adoption by consensus.

In addition, a limited number of resolutions addressing specific concerns are foreseen. Reports and workshops offer additional channels to deal with issues of concern relating to overall theme.

The workshops are not part of the formal Conference agenda although reports from them are foreseen recording issues discussed with possible recommendations arising from them.

The advisory Group of Ambassadors met in Geneva on March 6. They gave their feedback on the suggested substance and the outcomes of the Conference. They expressed favourable views on the work done so far.
Feedback from the Standing Commission and the Ambassadors is integrated into a document on the Conference, which should reach all members of the Conference any day now.

I urge all NS to carefully study this document and to please revert with comments by the end of April. The next meeting of the Standing Commission takes place on May 13. At this meeting it will decide on a draft Conference agenda.

May I also take this opportunity to remind all NS and through them also their governments to please report on the implementation of the Plan of Action and the pledges from the Conference in 1999. The reports should be sent to the ICRC or the International Federation latest July 1st to allow sufficient time for compilation of a report to the 2003 Conference.

Workshops
The workshops during the Conference provide an opportunity for more informal discussions and exchange on topics of interest relating to the overall theme, outside the formal agenda.

The Commission received 18 proposals from NS and governments. I want to sincerely thank all who contributed. They caused the Commission a slight headache in trying to hang on to the original plan of approximately eight (8) workshops! My appreciation is great also for their cooperation and willingness to consult and advise in deciding on both the number and a coordinated content of the workshops. As you can see, they promise interesting discussions!

Pledges
The good experience from the pledges in 1999 encouraged us to renew this possibility at the upcoming Conference. We look forward to having both individual and collective pledges. We will open the pledging process in advance, in early June when all members have received the draft Conference agenda and the draft documents, including the guidelines for pledging.

Elections
As announced in the last Newsletters, four of the present five elected members of the Standing Commission will not be candidates for re-election.

We have to date received three nominations – they can be viewed on the Movement’s website www.redcross.int. You can view the nomination forms there and find out who the candidates are!
I do hope we will have qualified candidates from all regions. We need a competent, experienced and well-balanced Commission – both in terms of geography and gender!

Council of Delegates
The Council will meet just before the International Conference.

The opening ceremony is on November 30 with the Henry Dunant Medal awards. May I remind you to nominate candidates for this highest Movement award by May 1st .

The Council will last only 1.5 days. A substantial part of its agenda will prepare us for the Conference. However, we do hope to find enough time to address one important Movement theme: how to best ensure and promote ‘Tolerance and non-discrimination’. With the good experiences from the Council in 2001, we hope to discuss this in commissions.

You have received the draft provisional agenda for the Council. Please send any comments or suggestions you might have regarding it to the Standing Commission’s secretariat latest April 15th.
Report on the Seville Agreement

The Commission adopted the annual report from the ICRC and the International Federation on the implementation of the Seville Agreement in 2002.

The agreement is a pillar in regulating the roles and responsibilities of all components of the Movement in international emergency and development operations. The experiences from it are as a rule very positive, as you can read in the attached report. However, we still face challenges that need to be discussed and resolved. They relate partly to NS, who are parties to and bound by the Seville Agreement.

When adopting the agreement five years ago, we agreed to abide by it and analyse experiences from it in spite of the fact that not all NS were fully satisfied with the way their role was defined in it. While I do believe that we have benefited from this important agreement, I also think that by now we do have enough case studies and experiences to thoroughly analyse them and to consider if the Seville Agreement might deserve an overhaul in the near future. We can exchange some preliminary views on this at the Council in December, when the next report will be presented.

Emblem
The Working Group on Resolution 6 from the 2001 Council of Delegates is continuing its important work and looking into all available avenues of solving this major challenge for our Movement. The group met in October 2002 and again in January 2003. It has heard NS affected by the emblem issue and has had special consultations with members of the Organisation of Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies and with the Swiss government.
Operational cooperation is expanding and new memoranda on technical assistance and cooperation with the Israeli MDA as well as with the Eritrea National Society and the Palestine Red Crescent are being implemented.
The working group will soon meet again to prepare its report and recommendations to the Standing Commission. Based on that, the preparations for a report to both the Council and to the international Conference will be initiated.

The IC 2003 is merely eight months away. In the present situation it is hard to be optimistic about achieving a long lasting solution this year. Considering the world situation, it does not seem feasible that governments will be able to adopt the needed third additional protocol this year.

Movement Website
The work to improve the present Movement website – www.redcross.int - is delayed. Thanks to support from NS, we do have resources to start – but we lack the ‘doers’.

I am again appealing to you: We need a staff-on-loan to get the work going. The funding we have is not sufficient to employ new staff; we need your help. I appeal particularly to the communicators in our Movement and to the European Public Support Group and other similar networks to help us advance this project.

For any offers of assistance, please contact the Standing Commission secretariat. For technical information regarding qualifications etc, kindly contact Carolyn Oxlee at the Federation or Ian Piper at the ICRC.

Movement Strategy
You have received a questionnaire on work with the Strategy. I am very eager to learn about how you have integrated the actions into your own national plans! Have you already some experiences to share from implementing some of the 17 actions? Have you achieved some results? Do you feel that you have sufficient support in the implementation?

All these and other questions are waiting for your response. At the same time, an external review is going on concentrating mainly on how the Geneva institutions are working with the Strategy. Some NS have also been approached and interviewed.

All these different parts will be brought together in a report to the Council in December. In that connection we can address your experiences and also what should be done to ensure that the Strategy remains a priority and what support actions may be required for the future.

It is encouraging to receive information from NS on their work with the Strategy. Recent information tells us that the Strategy has been translated into Italian by the Italian Red Cross and can be viewed on their website. The same has been done in Norway. The German, the Canadian as well as the Red Cross Society of Chile have all reported on their work with the Strategy. I am sure there are many, many more and hope to learn about their work through the returned questionnaires.

Thank you for your Support!

On behalf of the Standing Commission, I wish to thank all NS for their substantial financial support. In additional to the NS, I also wish to thank both the ICRC and the International Federation for their support. They have shared the core costs of the Commission and contributed with considerable amounts of staff-hours towards its work.
Last year we received contributions from 28 NS totalling CHF 247 211. The amount is substantial, partly because the American Red Cross paid their contribution (CHF 144 500) covering hree years.

With this funding, we have been able to involve NS in the work of different ad hoc Working Groups in such important areas of work as preparing for the coming Council and International Conference and with the implementation of the Movement Strategy. We have also been able to participate at regional conferences and meetings, which to me has always been a priority.

In the near future, you will receive a new request for support from us. I hope you will continue to be as generous this year as you were last year!

In conclusion…
I recall that the Standing Commission will meet again on May 13th. For that meeting, I would most appreciate hearing from you regarding both the coming International Conference and the Council of Delegates.
I also look forward to discussing these and other Movement issues with NS in the Americas Region at their upcoming Conference in Santiago de Chile in April. I am pleased to be able to participate and to again have an opportunity to listen and learn from your experiences.

With my very best wishes,