Ukraine signs headquarters agreement with ICRC

Geneva (ICRC) - The Government of Ukraine and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today signed a " headquarters agreement " in Geneva. Mr Khandogy Volodymyr, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr Cornelio Sommaruga, ICRC President, signed the document at Geneva's International Conference Centre, where the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent is currently under way.

With the agreement secured, the ICRC will now open a regional delegation in Kiev, from which it will carry out its traditional activities, in particular programmes to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law.

A headquarters agreement sets out a framework for relations between the ICRC and the authorities of the country concerned, enabling it to carry out its mandate.

In addition to Ukraine, the delegation in Kiev will cover the Baltic States, the Republic of Moldova and Belarus. The ICRC is already present in the region, in particular the Russian Federation, where it has a delegation in Moscow and representatives in the northern Caucasus.