Rapporteur : Mrs Yolande Biké, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Gabon, Vice-Chairman of the Conference


It is an honour for me to present to the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent the pledges made during this past week.

Asking the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Governments to make specific pledges within the context of the conference was a new initiative, but one which, judging from the results, has been a success.

Prior to the Conference, the concept of pledging encouraged discussion, and on some issues intense debate within National Societies and Governments, as each member of the Conference sought to find appropriate and measurable pledges.

Some National Societies and Governments chose not only to make their own individual pledges, but to prepare joint national pledges underlining the commitment to work together towards a common goal. Some regional groupings of Societies and of Governments also chose to make joint pledges.

In terms of who has pledged to the Conference, I am pleased to announce that 163 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation, 85 Governments and 9 observers have submitted a total of 387 pledges.

These pledges have been recorded in an honour book, and will subsequently be prepared as an annex to the Conference report. They are also recorded and can be accessed on the Movement’s website.

While it is not possible for me to speak of each of the many and varied pledges which have been made, I should nevertheless like to share with you the main trends:

Two pledges related to children affected by armed conflict were circulated during the Conference and signed by a great number of National Societies and Governments. These pledges include the promotion of the adoption of new standards prohibiting the military recruitment and participation in armed conflict of persons under the age of 18 years, as do a number of individual pledges from National Societies and Governments.

Numerous pledges address the issue of protection and assistance to children and women, both in legal and practical terms, and with particular emphasis on psycho-social as well as physical needs of those affected by war. Specific measures are proposed, among them, the protection of young people against sexual abuse in refugee camps, the establishment of a trauma clinic and an international information and document centre.

Many members of the conference engaged themselves in a more proactive and preventive way and pledge to work actively with a long term perspective to promote a culture of non-violence and tolerance.

Commitments were not only practical, but also legal by nature. The majority of pledges contain elements relating to International Humanitarian Law. Several Governments engage themselves to ratify the Additional Protocols or to withdraw reservations to the Geneva Conventions. The creation of National Commissions for the implementation of Humanitarian Law is one of the initiatives included in the commitment of National Societies and Governments.

Numerous other initiatives to implement and disseminate Humanitarian Law were pledged, targeting new groups such as students through “education for peace” programmes, as well as armed forces and the police through specially designed campaigns. Among these projects is the creation of an academy with the objective of training police professionally under the observance of the principles and rules of International Humanitarian Law.

Another major trend is the promotion and ratification of other treaties, particularly the Ottawa Treaty on the banning of land-mines and the Statutes of the International Criminal Court, including reviewing national penal legislation in order to ensure punishment of war criminals. The transfer and proliferation of small arms was also an identified issue within a number of pledges.

Looking into the future of how we can work and what we must do as a humanitarian force, a substantial number of pledges relate to the role and responsibilities of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as auxiliary to the humanitarian services of Government, in protecting and assisting the most vulnerable people affected by armed conflict, disaster and socio-economic crisis.

Firstly, there is a real recognition of the importance of the respect of red cross and red crescent emblems as shown by the numerous pledges to strengthen national laws to protect these emblems, and secondly, emphasis is given to the establishment or revision of national law for the Red Cross or Red Crescent Society.
On a more practical basis, many pledge to strengthen National Society’s capacity by implementing the Strategy 2010 which was approved by the 12th Session of General Assembly of the International Federation. It is notable that all pledges from one geographical region, as well as a number of other countries, include a specific commitment to ensure more women are involved and represented in decision-making bodies.

One focus of National Society pledges is with regard to health and social programmes, not only to continue ongoing and traditional activities, such as First Aid and Community Health but also to expand by implementing new programmes in response to changing health and social patterns. Among these, programmes to combat Tuberculosis and other re-emerging diseases, epidemics, HIV/AIDS are specifically cited, as well as increased action to support particular marginalised groups including street children, asylum seekers and refugees.

Recognising the role of Red Cross and Red Crescent in disaster response and disaster preparedness, numerous Governments and National Societies pledge to strengthen national disaster plans, establish regional centres and promote improved training of staff and volunteers.

As the last major trend, there are numerous pledges to recruit and train volunteers, and to motivate and involve youth to ensure their active participation in the design and implementation of all these programmes

Mr. Chairman, in this short overview, I have only mentioned major trends, but in fact the scope of the pledges varies from the systematic recording of the names of Red Cross and Red Crescent personnel who have died while carrying out humanitarian services, to the establishment of an African humanitarian intervention unit in co-operation with regional and global organisations. And although the pledging was not about money, we note that a number of financial commitments have been made. We welcome this additional support, which will ensure that we continue to carry out vital humanitarian services.

Mr. Chairman, not only can we see that the pledging has been a success in terms of numbers recorded, but also in terms of how practical and realistic they are. As you know, the pledges are not legally binding, but they are a real expression of a moral commitment. Putting these pledges into practise is now the challenge ahead of us, and the inherent value for humanitarian action will be measurable through the report to the 28th International Conference.

On your behalf Mr Chairman, I would like to thank all the eminent personalities who came to our desk to sign their pledge, all the delegates to the Conference for their active support to this new initiative, as well as the Pledge Team for its work and commitment. It now gives me great pleasure to hand to you the final result of this initiative - these 387 pledges.

Thank you.