On the initiative of the ICRC and the Danish government a round table on the subject of "Preventive Action" was held in Copenhagen from 2 to 4 November 1997.
The majority of participants were humanitarian aid coordinators, representing the Ministries of Cooperation or Foreign Affairs of some 20 countries.
The meeting resulted in the adoption of a Framework for preventive activities, which focused on the following areas :
- advocacy
- development
- institutional capacity building
The text reads as follows :
Prevention : Copenhagen Framework for Action
Prevention encompasses the prevention of conflict, limitation of scope of the conflict, and the prevention of unnecessary negative effects of conflict.
Actions in support of prevention should be based on a respect for international humanitarian law, should aim to reduce suffering and should be pursued in a coherent way.
The participants at Copenhagen identified three main themes for action:
1. Advocacy was considered to be an essential part of the process and activities to be pursued should include:
- Support for specific causes such as banning of landmines, control of trade in small arms and security of relief workers.
- The promotion of understanding and dissemination of international humanitarian law.
- Support and encouragement for the ratification of and respect for human rights and humanitarian law treaties.
- Support for measures to ensure the implementation of international humanitarian laws and the establishment of an International Criminal Court.
- Investment in and training for advocacy especially in indigenous contexts.
- Work with the media and others on relevant campaigns.
2. Participants identified the importance of measures to reduce vulnerability for effective prevention. It was agreed that development activities to be supported should include :
- Indigenous capacity building.
- The nurturing of young leaders, while respecting the involvement of appropriate elders with an emphasis on the participation of women.
- Support for emergency preparedness mechanisms especially local Red Cross/Red Crescent societies.
- Encouraging exchanges between ethnic groups.
- Promoting good governance.
- Security sector reform.
3. Participants acknowledged the need for improvements in the way in which institutions work for there to be progress in prevention. Specific needs which were identified include:
- Better links and partnership with the private sector
- The development of strategic frameworks.
- Further work on the promotion of ethical standards and codes of conduct.
- The development of common technique for impact analysis of both relief and development.
- The promotion of vulnerability analysis with the development of relevant indicators.
- Support for regional institutions.
The participants agreed that they would promote the above-mentioned activities within their own agencies as appropriate and also in relevant international forums. They also agreed that more research was needed on the costs and the economic consequences of conflict and that there should be a better system of information exchange between actors to ensure that practices are improved and experiences shared.
They then agreed that a progress report should be prepared in advance of the next Humanitarian Meeting in June 1998.
Ref. LG 1997-142-ENG
