One Year On… Update on the Code of Conduct for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and VFOs in Disaster Relief

Over 60 NGOs have now registered their commitment to implementing the Code of Conduct. Within many of these agencies and certainly amongst the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the NGOs who funded the Code, the principles of the Code are now included in basic training courses for relief and development workers.

To make this sort of training more effective and more accessible to others, the Overseas Development Administration of the British Government has funded the production of a training video on the Code for the Red Cross. Production of the nine-minute video is finishing as this newsletter goes to press, and copies will be available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic, as well as without a sound track so that it can be dubbed into any language.

The Code of Conduct is also being taken to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference at the end of this year where all the governments who have signed the Geneva Conventions are represented to discuss International Humanitarian Law and the practice of humanitarian assistance and protection. Governments will be asked to support a resolution encouraging them to use the Code in their dealings with NGOs and to encourage NGOs in their countries to abide by the Code.

To register your support, obtain copies of the video or further information on the Code, please contact:

The Disaster and Refugee Policy Department
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
PO Box 372, 1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 730 4222
Fax: +31 22 733 039
Email: walker@ifrc.org

Peter Walker is Director, Disaster and Refugee Policy, IFRC