Red Cross Blogs

Guest post from Kenya: working in unity

By Katrina Crew
December 4, 2009 at 10:40 am

Laura Hudson works on humanitarian policy issues at the British Red Cross. She recently returned from Kenya, where she supported our delegation to one of the most significant meetings in the Red Cross calendar, featuring discussions on how the Red Cross addresses humanitarian issues.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks at home and abroad, it seems to me, as I pile on the sweaters, and settle in at home with a cup of tea to catch up on events. Our colleagues in Cumbria and the communities they are helping were much in our thoughts as we sat through long plenary meetings of the General Assembly, applauded Laura Deacon, our youth delegate, as she spoke on behalf of the British Red Cross, and enjoyed the incredibly warm hospitality of our Kenyan sister Society.

After the General Assembly finished, we had the Council of Delegates, the meeting which brings together Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies (like the British Red Cross), the Federation Secretariat and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

With the ICRC present, the agenda focussed far more on international humanitarian law than the General Assembly had, and Michael Meyer, our head of international law, was in his element. In a break with tradition, the Council spent the entire second day on workshops on subjects such as climate change, capacity-building in Africa, international humanitarian law and how we work in partnership with our sister National Societies.

I was delighted to have been asked to present a case study on our diversity programme to one of the workshops, and it’s great to hear how useful other National Societies find it to hear the experiences of others.

On the final day, looking out over Nairobi on the clearest afternoon we’d had since we’d arrived, I welcomed the chance to reflect on all that had happened, and the immense effort that goes into preparing for and attending the meetings. It’s all very removed from the reality of most of the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and when I think back to a project visit we went on last weekend, hours of plenary meetings and sober speeches seem a surreal way to spend a week.

But hard as it is to believe, the discussions that go on at such a high level lead to real change and innovation by individual National Societies – for example, in the way they relate to their governments or how they use their young volunteers. The workshops we attended during the Council of Delegates have also set the scene for our 2011 International Conference.

Overall, attending our statutory meetings was a challenging, tiring yet inspiring experience. It’s wonderful to sit in the plenary knowing that your delegation of five or six has exactly the same vote and status as the tiny delegations of one or two; to see colleagues from all over the world nod thoughtfully as the secretary general of the Papua New Guinea Red Cross sets out her plan for her National Society; to meet so many cheerful and dedicated Kenya Red Cross volunteers in their distinctive bright red t-shirts.

I’ll leave you with a video that always leaves a lump in my throat – the video from the Solferino march this year. The hundreds of young Red Crossers that travelled to Solferino for the celebrations may have more energy than some of us old fogey delegates, but the spirit is the same – one Movement, working together in Unity.

See Laura’s photos from Kenya on Flickr

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Tags: governance, International, Kenya, strategy, young people

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 10:40 am and is filed under Fundraising and events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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