Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 3: Time to act: Tackling epidemics and pandemics together (33IC/19/R3) – German Red Cross

¿ Ha incorporado el Estado/la Sociedad Nacional/la institución los empeños contenidos en esta resolución en los planes estratégicos u operativos pertinentes?

Los compromisos han sido incorporados en
estrategia
política
plan operativo

A internacional, regional, nacional, local nivel

Explicación:

The international activities of the German Red Cross (GRC) to support the containment and control of epidemics and pandemics have been expanded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to include additional bilateral and multilateral assistance activities. To ensure the coherence of the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, in cooperation with sister National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies the GRC developed regional operative plans based on three pillars: “preparedness and response”, “readiness” and “mitigation and community resilience“ (OPs 4, 6 and 8).

The GRC launched a number of bilateral emergency aid projects. During the initial COVID-19 outbreak, the GRC supported sister National Societies with protective equipment and medical supplies. Further projects focused on highly vulnerable countries facing fragility and conflict. Community-based health and hygiene measures and capacity building of National Societies, supporting them to be better prepared for epidemics and to strengthen them in their auxiliary role, are at the core of the projects and contribute to the implementation of the Resolution (OPs 4, 6 and 7). Several COVID-19 and dengue fever emergency projects have been implemented in cooperation with 16 National Societies across four continents. Given the rise of cholera infections worldwide, the GRC has further been supporting National Societies in affected countries (Lebanon, Syria, Malawi, Comoro Islands, Zimbabwe). The integration of considerations on epidemic preparedness and response into plans and programming of sister National Societies is systematically supported and promoted (such as in Syria, Palestine).

The GRC has also engaged in conceptual work on infectious diseases, trying to better link community-based health services with international assistance. This work has focused on outbreak prevention, preparedness and response training concepts as well as on the provision of flexibly deployable outbreak response modules (in line with OPs 4, 5 and 6). In particular, GRC supported the development of the Infection Prevention and Control Emergency Response Unit (IPC-ERU) which is deployable to support health care facilities affected by outbreaks. GRC also organised two regionalised training events for IPC programming and preparedness in cooperation with the Colombian and the Venezuelan Red Cross in 2022 and 2024. This led to a common understanding of IPC effectiveness and challenges in different settings.

Since 2022, GRC engages in advancing the work done on anticipatory action and epidemics with the aim to anticipate infectious disease outbreaks, and based on forecasts, act before acute impacts of an outbreak are felt or before the outbreak can reach scale. GRC co-leads a respective Movement WG under the Anticipation Hub and closely coordinates and engages with other relevant actors, such as UN organizations, NGOs and academia. Guidance on the conceptual framework of anticipatory action and epidemics is being developed, as well as feasibility studies and pilots supported.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the GRC supported and cooperated with the German public authorities domestically in its role as auxiliary (OP 3). For example, the GRC provided personnel and material for the collection of samples for COVID-19 testing at the request of local health authorities, operated vaccination and testing centres as well as mobile testing teams, distributed protective items, deployed mobile medical care units especially in rural areas, ran emergency care services during daycare and school closures, provided emergency psychosocial care and supported the implementation of a vaccination campaign. It deployed liaison officers to the German Federal Ministry of Health and the Bundeswehr’s (German armed forces) Medical Command.

Evaluation processes regarding GRC activities during the COVID-19 pandemic led to recommendations and to the adaptation of measures and regulations, strengthening future response capabilities. The Risk Management, Security Research and Innovation Transfer team initiated an evaluation of GRC COVID-19 operations. Qualitative surveys and expert workshops were used to identify challenges and approaches from all areas of work at the GRC, which were then evaluated and published. Another example is the nationwide online study conducted on “Resilience and deployment experiences of volunteers in the COVID-19 crisis”, in which 600 people took part. The findings from the surveys were summarized in recommendations and evaluated in terms of feasibility.

For the protection of staff and volunteers (since the beginning of the pandemic more than 25,000 volunteer and full-time GRC emergency personnel have been deployed), recommendations regarding hygiene concepts and behavioural instructions have been published and adapted. Measures of psychological emergency care have been successfully applied and hybrid and digital events greatly expanded, largely as a result of the pandemic (in line with OP 8).

Ha trabajado el Estado/la Sociedad Nacional/la institución con otros asociados para poner en práctica los empeños contenidos en esta resolución?

En asociación con:
gobierno y/o autoridades públicas
CICR/Federación Internacional
otras Sociedades Nacionales de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja
asociados en los ámbitos humanitario y de desarrollo (por ejemplo, Naciones Unidas, organizaciones no gubernamentales)

Ejemplos de cooperación:

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the GRC has extensively cooperated with the public authorities at national, regional and local levels, as well as with partners worldwide, including sister National Societies and IFRC / ICRC.

In line with its role as auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field, the GRC delivered services to contain the COVID-19 pandemic domestically and contributed to the management of the pandemic (OP 3). On an international level, the GRC cooperated with sister National Societies through bilateral emergency aid projects. The GRC has also provided the IFRC with qualified professionals to strengthen the IFRC’s response to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases through its Rapid Response Mechanism.

For its work on anticipatory action and epidemics, GRC closely coordinated with IFRC, the RC Climate Centre, relevant NGOs (such as MSF) and UN agencies (such as UN OCHA), and academia (such as LSHTM).

¿Ha habido dificultades para poner en práctica los empeños contenidos en esta resolución?

Dificultades en relación con:
conflicto de prioridades
falta de conocimientos o de pericia específica

Describa detalladamente estas dificultades:

The COVID-19 pandemic affected countries worldwide on an unprecedented and unexpected scale and highlighted insufficient investments in preparedness and institutional capacity of National Societies. More emphasis has been put on public health and community health approaches in the recent years. While the RCRC Movement is well positioned to respond in communities, approaches and tools for international response activities that can support health care systems or contribute to response efforts at the community level had to be revised and institutionalised. GRC identified this challenge and took the opportunity to readjust.

¿Han incidido los empeños contenidos en esta resolución en el trabajo y la dirección del Estado/la Sociedad Nacional/la institución?

Tipo de repercusión:
fortalecimiento de la cooperación entre el gobierno o las autoridades públicas y la Sociedad Nacional
aumento de la eficacia y la eficiencia de los programas y operaciones
desarrollo y uso de herramientas o metodologías innovadoras
incremento en la movilización de recursos
formación y capacidad de los miembros del personal y de los voluntarios (en el caso de las Sociedades Nacionales);
otros asociados

Describa detalladamente las repercusiones:

The commitments made in this Resolution in combination with the outbreak of COVID-19 have tested and improved the capacities of the GRC in the area of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically illustrated the relevance of the Resolution. During the pandemic management, the GRC has closely cooperated with the public authorities in line with its auxiliary role. Thus, cooperation has been strengthened and the relevance of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in this area of work illustrated, as it can rely on a large number of volunteers and is guided by its Fundamental Principles. Further, as described, after several evaluations, operations have been made more effective and efficient and innovative methodologies for preparedness and response have been developed. Building on these findings, the interlinkages between clinical and public health, as well as WASH have been strengthened which leads to a more holistic approach to tackling epidemics.

5. Han incidido los empeños contenidos en esta resolución en las comunidades a las que el Estado/la Sociedad Nacional/la institución presta servicios?

Describa las repercusiones:

On a national level, the German Red Cross’ work has addressed the material and psychosocial needs of many of those made vulnerable by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Internationally, the large number of bilateral programmes has helped sister National Societies worldwide to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other outbreaks, but also to be better prepared for future epidemics and pandemics.