Actions taken:
Introduction
During the years from 2020-2024, there have been several international incidents that have affected millions of people and communities globally, including the Red Cross National Societies in the Arctic Region. As especially the covid-19-pandemic and the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine have affected Red Cross’ work in general during this time period, the Red Cross Arctic NS have been affected too, as Red Cross volunteers and staff through the period have focused their efforts on response strategies in relation to the many challenges brought on by the pandemic, as well as the humanitarian needs of a high number of Ukrainian refugees who have sought protection in especially European countries. These global events have also had a significant impact on the operations of the Arctic Council, which in part have made it difficult to achieve the objectives of further consolidating and deepening our partnership with the Council and its subsidiary bodies over these past years.
Notwithstanding the events that have shaped the period from 2020-2024, these years have also been characterised by joint and individual initiatives and efforts from the Red Cross Arctic NS both in terms of creating a stronger cooperation between our NS in relation to our work in the Arctic region, as well as local and domestic initiatives by some of the NS to strengthen disaster preparedness and response strategies in collaboration with local communities and inhabitants of the Arctic.
In the following, the Red Cross Arctic NS will give a brief summary of some of the key efforts and initiatives that have been taken during the pledging period in order to fulfil the objectives of the Arctic Pledge.
Goals and objectives of the Arctic Pledge
The Action Plan of the Arctic Pledge stipulated that the National Societies should work to:
- Strengthen the sharing of knowledge and experience, cooperation, and coordination in the field of disaster preparedness and response in the Arctic region
- Deepen the cooperation of Red Cross Arctic National Societies and the IFRC with regard to the work done by the Arctic Council
- Further develop community preparedness and resilience initiatives for the Arctic region related to emergencies and disasters by exploring effective solutions to reduce and minimize potential vulnerabilities caused by climate risks and hazards in the Arctic region.
The indicators for measuring progress were as follows:
- Establish an informal network representing Red Cross Arctic National Societies and the IFRC with the aim of strengthening the internal collaboration and the IFRC Observer role in the Arctic Council and its working groups
- Outline a scope for and/or conduct Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (VCA) together with selected communities prone to emergencies and disasters in the Arctic region
- Identify and list possibilities for increased cooperation on Arctic preparedness and response and/or develop preparedness and response tools such as early warning systems, contingency plans, and protocols in close cooperation between relevant authorities.
Consolidating the efforts of the Arctic Red Cross NS, the IFRC and the Arctic Council
As the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council rotates between the Arctic States every two years, the Chairmanship of the Council during the years from 2020-2024 have shifted from Iceland to the Russian Federation and then to Norway in 2023, who currently chairs the Council, with the Kingdom of Denmark and Sweden being next in line to hold the position as Chair from 2025 and onwards.
While one of the main objectives of the Arctic Pledge has been to deepen the cooperation of the Red Cross Arctic National Societies and the IFRC with regard to the work done by the Arctic Council, there have been some obstacles to achieving this objective due to global events that has led to a temporary pause in the Council’s meetings and activities, including in the Council’s subsidiary bodies. Notably, the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine led the majority of the Arctic States to issue a statement that they would temporarily pause participation in all meetings of the Council and its subsidiary bodies.
In 2024, however, there has been a positive development in terms of re-starting the conversation on ensuring a consistent cooperation between the Red Cross Arctic NS, the IFRC and the Arctic Council. With meetings again being held, albeit only digitally, in the Council’s Working Groups, the Norwegian Red Cross have had talks with the Chairs of two of the Working Groups, and have exchanged ideas on projects and initiatives for Red Cross involvement with the Council’s activities in 2024 and in 2025. Since Norway took over the Chairmanship of the Council, the Norwegian Red Cross has had a close dialogue with IFRC representatives from the IFRC Budapest office to coordinate the work with the Council in order to manage the observer role of the IFRC in the most fruitful way, mindful of how it is customary for the IFRC to delegate the day-to-day work in relation to the Council to the Red Cross National Society in the state that currently holds the Chairmanship of the Council.
As a result of dialogue and discussions about priorities in the Arctic Council work between IFRC and the Norwegian Red Cross, the Norwegian Red Cross was granted project funds from the Arctic Council Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) Working Group in May 2025, and are planning to host a conference in Tromsø, Norway in early 2025, which aims to re-start conversations about how states, healthcare professionals and civil society can work together to strengthen healthcare preparedness in the event of a major disaster or accident in the Arctic, notably by engaging relevant stakeholders in discussions and to create common knowledge about existing and emerging risks affecting region, established response strategies, and by looking into how resources from civil society can best be utilised to support local communities and people affected by disasters during a time of crisis.
In order to strengthen the possibilities of sharing knowledge, experience and information across the Arctic Red Cross NS, the Norwegian Red Cross have also invited all Arctic Red Cross NS to be part of an informal Arctic Region network, where representatives will meet regularly to share in discussions about on-going projects and developments, exchange experiences and ideas, get better acquainted with each other’s disaster management plans, response strategies and priorities in the Arctic, and to further investigate areas of multilateral cooperation. As the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council rotates between the Arctic States every two years, the establishment of a network for the Arctic Red Cross NS’ has a great potential for creating more continuity in Red Cross’ work vis-à-vis the Arctic Council and the Arctic region in general, by creating opportunities for coordination and as well as the implementation of longer-term projects and initiatives that all or chosen Arctic Red Cross National Societies can be part of, as well as learn from. This is an also important in order to achieving the Arctic Pledge goal of deepening the cooperation between the Arctic Red Cross NS and the IFRC in relation to the work of the Arctic Council.
The network of representatives from the Arctic Red Cross NS and the IFRC has in part been built-upon the positive experiences from the already established network of the Nordic Red Cross NS – a pre-existing and joint collaboration between the Nordics organised through a Nordic Disaster Management Working Group (NDMWG). The NDMWG meets every month to share updates, give information about on-going efforts in the field of disaster management, and to share experiences about on-going crises and response strategies. The NDMWG also meets physically once every year.
NS’ projects and local initiatives
During the years from 2020-2024, there have been individual initiatives by the Arctic Red Cross NS to strengthen disaster preparedness in the Arctic region that should be highlighted. For instance, the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) have been engaged in multiple activities in co-operation with the Government of Nunavut and the Nunavut local communities, engaging in activities such as co-hosting the annual Nipivut Youth Conference with 100 students from 5-10 schools in Nunavut where the CRC provided materials for the students, including CRC First Aid Training to prepare the students for potential disasters. The CRC also worked closely with communities in Nunavut to set up Personal Disaster Assistance (PDA) systems, where PDA volunteers practice delivering assistance in the event of a disaster, and have delivered numerous psychosocial support training workshop to support response and recovery after social emergencies and infrastructure fires. Moreover, the CRC participated in exercises alongside the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Canadian Rangers to better enhance preparedness functions for emergency events and worked to identify supplies to support Arctic disaster responses, i.e. appropriate shelters. The CRC also provided disaster preparedness kits to every school in Nunavut, as well as PDA response bags to communities. These activities could be continued and expanded beyond schools, in order to further strengthen efforts to ensure disaster preparedness in the Arctic region.
Throughout 2020-2024, the CRC has had a great focus on the involvement of the Indigenous population and building community resilience, e.g. through the facilitation of a panel event titled Indigenous Experience and Leadership in Canada’s Far North and Arctic Region, co-hosted with Senator Margret Dawn Andersen in the Northwest Territories. The event included participation from Indigenous leaders, and researchers , and brought focus to Indigenous experience and leadership under climate change in Canada’s Arctic and far north region. The panel aimed to bring awareness to the disproportionate impacts climate changes have on Indigenous communities in the far north, as well as the vital role of Indigenous leadership and traditional knowledge when it comes to adaptation to climate change. Additionally, the CRC contributed to Women, Peace and Security Network Canada’s publication on the review of Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, with an article focusing on growing humanitarian needs in the Arctic, which have been exacerbated by climate changes. The article further called for the Government of Canada to address human security considerations in the Arctic’s unique environment.
In the Kingdom of Denmark, the youth organisations of the Danish Red Cross (DRC), URK and INUA (Greenland) have initiated a 4-year Psychological First Aid (PFA)-project, with training materials adapted for youth being translated to Greenlandic (kalaallisut) and15 trainers have received training. The DRC are now working towards a target where 1600 youth (2,8 % of the population) will receive 4-5 hrs. of PFA-training by 2027. In the Faroe Islands, the DRC are planning PFA trainings in November 2023, and a aTraining of Trainers (ToT) for local PFA instructors early in 2025. Additionally, 24 employees of the DRC have been trained as psychosocial team leaders (PSTL), and 15 new PSTL’s have been recruited and will complete trainings in 2025. The objective for the PSTLs is to provide psychosocial support in emergencies and advise and lead volunteers in emergency responses.
One of the indicators for measuring progress in relation to achieving the goals of the Action Plan in the Arctic Pledge, has been to focus on Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (VCAs) in collaboration with selected communities that are prone to emergencies and disasters in the Arctic. In 2021, the Swedish Red Cross (SRC) carried out a mapping of the Swedish part of the Arctic which includes the traditional Sami settlement area, comprising 52 Swedish municipalities. The objective was to identify areas where the SRC should consider starting up or strengthening crisis preparedness work, investigate the potential for cooperation with Red Cross’ national societies across national borders, and to ensure the inclusion of indigenous peoples’ perspectives and capacities in areas where the SRC’s capacity is lower.
In Canada, psychosocial assessment of communities is built on VCAs, and the CRC provides formal and informal psychosocial assessments to build and understanding of the differential impacts on the mental health, wellbeing and protection of affected individuals and communities during the crisis when the mechanism is activates by the Nunavut education community to respond to social emergencies.
The Norwegian Red Cross has conducted a comprehensive risk analysis of the northernmost county, and found vulnerabilities related especially to climate change, demographical challenges, security, and industrial development. To contribute to the mitigation of these vulnerabilities, the Norwegian Red Cross has decided to strengthen the Red Cross presence and capacity in the region through financial investments and manning. Primary objectives are to build a stronger Red Cross footprint, improve cross-sectorial cooperation, and the development of new disaster response capacities in the region.
As of 2024, the Norwegian Red Cross are also engaged in conversations with the Sami Parliament of Norway, and will further seek to expand the dialogue with the Sapmi community in the Arctic areas on ways to build community resilience in the region in relation to the conference that will be hosted by the Norwegian Red Cross at the beginning of 2025.
Concluding remarks – ways forward
While there are still measures that can and should be taken in order to progress on the objectives as outlined in the Arctic Pledge, the years from 2020-2024 has – despite the global incidents that have created unprecedented challenges during these years – been characterised by many initiatives to achieve the objectives of the Pledge. In particular, the efforts done to work closely with local and indigenous communities in the Arctic to spread information about existing and emerging risks affecting the region, capacity-building and a strong focus on knowledge and information about the importance of psychosocial first aid, should be highlighted.
Additionally, as a network of Arctic Red Cross NS representatives has been created and the work of the Arctic Council is resuming, there is a great potential for the Red Cross to move forward with projects and initiatives in collaboration with the Arctic Council in the coming years, with the Norwegian Red Cross-initiated healthcare preparedness conference serving as a starting point for an initiative that can be further built-upon and expanded in the future.
Against the background of the events that have shaped the last four years, the Arctic Red Cross National Societies have made important progress in relation to achieving the objectives of the Arctic Pledge, and look forward to further consolidating our efforts to strengthen disaster preparedness and response in the Arctic areas in the years to come. Moving forward, the Red Cross Arctic NS’ will continue their efforts and joint talks about on-going projects and initiatives, and look forward to physically meeting and bringing the discussions forward at the conference hosted by the Norwegian Red Cross in 2025 to further discuss healthcare preparedness in the Arctic in 2025.
