Blog

The Climate and Environment Charter two years on: Progress and challenges

May 2023

Since it was launched in May 2021, support for the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations has grown and gathered momentum. Hundreds of humanitarian organizations have signed the charter, it has been endorsed by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and states have pledged their support.
In the light of the increasingly visible and widespread impacts of climate change, the charter aims to steer the humanitarian sector towards collective action and raise awareness of how much still remains to be done.

Progress update on the Women and Leadership Resolution

May 2023

This blog post provides a progress update on Resolution 5 – Women and Leadership in the humanitarian action of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, focusing specifically on the Progress Report on the Women and Leadership Resolution published in March 2022. The text examines both the progress made by Movement components and obstacles to their efforts, with a specific focus on the concept of intersectionality as it applies to the implementation of the resolution.

A New Award: The Movement Family Links Medal

May 2023

At the Council of Delegates in June 2022, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopted a resolution to establish the Movement Family Links Medal, to pay tribute to and recognize outstanding work by individuals or groups – primarily Movement staff and volunteers – to help separated families and the relatives of people who have gone missing in situations of armed conflict or other violence, disasters or other situations requiring a humanitarian response, including in the context of migration.
The medal will be awarded to a maximum of five recipients every two years, during the Council of Delegates.

Strengthening anticipatory action within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: Progress to date and plans for future action

April 2023

This blog post provides the background to and rationale for the adoption of the 2022 Council of Delegates resolution “Strengthening anticipatory action in the Movement: Our way forward”. It outlines the potential of anticipatory action, highlights achievements and draws attention to gaps that the resolution seeks to address. The blog post ends with a brief report on progress made since the resolution was adopted in June 2022.

Mental health and psychosocial support: Not a luxury for some, but a right for all

March 2023

Tags: Health – mental health and psychosocial support

In December 2019, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopted a set of commitments to address mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs. To translate these historic commitments into action, six priority action areas were formulated as part of a roadmap for implementation. Five working groups were established, each focusing on one of the priority action areas aiming to:
1) strengthen the integration of basic psychosocial support across sectors
2) promote MHPSS holistically in line with the Movement’s MHPSS framework
3) protect the well-being of the Movement’s staff and volunteers
4) promote monitoring, evaluation and research
5) undertake advocacy and resource mobilization.
The roadmap extends until the end of 2023, however, there is a resolve for MHPSS to remain on the international agenda in the longer term, and a new MHPSS governance structure has been established to ensure its continuity.

Towards a Movement Strategy on Migration

June 2022

Blog on the Global Migration Leadership Group and COD Resolution Addressing the humanitarian needs of migrants in vulnerable situations and those impacted by migration has been a priority of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement (‘the Movement’) for decades. The commitment and role of the Movement in relation to migration has been […]

Building trust in the Red Cross Red Crescent brand: The case for investing in Movement communications

May 2022

Tags: Communication

A strong communications capacity across the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), from the local to the global level, is crucial if we are to build trust, acceptance and credibility at all levels. To achieve it, we must harness the power of our network and leverage our local presence, but building our brand is not without its challenges in today’s increasingly complex and interconnected world. We are therefore holding a virtual workshop on 19 May as part of the Council of Delegates to explore how we can best invest in communications skills and systems across the Movement, to better support our humanitarian mission.

Strengthening integrity within the Movement

May 2022

Tags: Diversity / Inclusion / NS statutes/legal base

The adoption of the Statement on Integrity by the 2019 Council of Delegates represents an important milestone in confirming the collective commitment of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement) and its components and, as such, was highly welcomed by the participants. The Statement expresses the seriousness with which the Movement takes the issue of integrity and reiterates the crucial importance for each component of the Movement, at an individual as well as well as at an institutional level, to ensure respect for integrity and ethical principles. Since the adoption of the Statement active follow-up work has been undertaken and Movement components continue to engage and seek ways to strengthen integrity and share their experiences and knowledge in the topic.

Towards a complementary Movement approach to education

April 2022

Tags: Children / Education / Youth

Education is a fundamental human right and an essential public service. It also plays an essential role in building safe, healthy, resilient, inclusive and caring societies. But education is easily disrupted during emergencies, and that calls for an effective humanitarian response. Under Resolution 6 of the 2017 Council of Delegates, the Movement committed itself to addressing education-related needs, especially those of people whose access to education is denied, limited or disrupted by such situations as armed conflict, disasters and other emergencies. A pilot project is looking at how Movement components can intensify their efforts and support each other’s efforts in the field of education.

Increased local action: Investing in sustainable and strong National Societies

April 2022

Tags: National Society development / NS statutes/legal base / Organzational development / Partnership / RC RC Movement cooperation

Strong and sustainable National Societies are the key factor for increased local action. Investing in purposeful efforts to transform and adapt to a changing environment while remaining anchored to principled humanitarian action is the challenge of the vast majority of National Societies.
National Societies are the owners of their own development, while the IFRC has the mandate, responsibility and know-how to support their development and their capacity to deliver relevant services and the ICRC has a specific mandate in building capacities with National Societies to prepare for and respond to armed conflict and to preserve and strengthen principled humanitarian action in all contexts. As a Movement, we want to learn from successful experiences how to identify concrete avenues to strengthen the overall sustainability of National Societies, focusing on the auxiliary role, the legal base and financial sustainability, leveraging the coordinated and aligned expertise and support of the Movement components.

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