Red Cross sets out priorities for action

The 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent opens in Geneva on Tuesday.

The central theme of the 2003 meeting is the protection of human dignity.

The conference will be attended by all 179 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, together with the International Federation, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the 191 states parties to the Geneva Conventions.

Ahead of the meeting, the Red Cross has identified four main areas for action:

The missing

One of the saddest legacies of war and internal violence is the number of people who go missing and the anguish faced by those they leave behind. The conference aims to identify action to prevent disappearances, improve information on people unaccounted for, and deal with the issue of handling human remains.

The arms issue

The conference will seek to stimulate progress in addressing key humanitarian concerns related to weapons. It will affirm the need to renew international commitment to end the suffering caused by antipersonnel landmines and to control the availability of weapons. It will also call for action to prevent the misuse of biotechnology to create new means or methods of warfare.

Reducing the impact of disasters

Millions of people each year are affected by disaster, and the number is growing. The conference will identify ways to make “disaster risk reduction” a reality. It will consider a range of practical actions that governments and Red Cross societies can take to incorporate risk reduction, disaster management techniques, awareness and preparedness in their policies and practices. It will also present the findings of the International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) project.

Changing attitudes to HIV/Aids

The stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV/Aids and other diseases is a direct threat to human dignity. The conference will identify action by governments and Red Cross societies to tackle discrimination and action to reduce the risks and vulnerability to HIV/Aids and other diseases in programmes where the societies and governments already work together.

swissinfo, Imogen Foulkes