International alert series: The BIG Issues
Beyond Tsunami - Australian Red Cross response
Mr
Robert Tickner, CEO, Australian Red Cross
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you tonight.
The Boxing Day Tsunamis destroyed families, homes, villages and livelihoods
on an enormous scale. They continue to affect many thousands of lives across
an entire region as I saw clearly in my visit to Indonesia less than one
month ago.
But the Tsunamis also changed the way Australian Red Cross delivers its core
operations beyond tsunami and our response will shape the way emergency and
long-term disaster relief will be administered by Red Cross into the future.
Tonight I am not going to take up your time by only simply detailing the
many projects we are undertaking in response to the tsunami, but also will
focus on some broader strategic issues as well. I have asked to be
distributed on your seats some written information about the detail of those
specific projects we are undertaking in addition to our contribution to the
earlier emergency response. They include diverse and critical initiatives
ranging from: a massive clean up project in the Maldives; public health,
water and sanitation, and a housing project in Sri Lanka; housing
construction, blood service and ambulance projects in Indonesia, and tracing
and family reunion projects throughout the region.
Understandably, tonight I will be speaking as I was requested to do from the
Australian Red Cross’ viewpoint and from the perspective of the global
humanitarian response of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Clearly
other agencies will also have their own important perspectives on many of
these issues.
Australian Red Cross has, with other aid agencies, played a constructive
role with ACFID in working towards greater cooperation between agencies, a
joint reporting process led by Minister Downer, and in supporting an open
and transparent accountability framework. We will continue to champion these
cooperation objectives.
Australian Red Cross is, however, a part of a unique global humanitarian
movement which has its own distinct way of operating and a set of principles
which are, in their totality, unique and which underpin all our work.
We wear these principles as a badge of honour and they are essential for the
performance of our work.
They are:
- Humanity - The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation and lasting peace amongst all people.
- Impartiality - It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress.
- Neutrality - In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.
- Independence - The Movement is independent. The National Societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with the principles of the Movement.
- Voluntary Service - It is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain.
- Unity - There can be only one Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in any one country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory.
- Universality - The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all Societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other, is worldwide.
Additionally, Red Cross has a unique mandate as an auxiliary to
government recognised under the Geneva conventions and by all signatory
governments to those conventions.
You may not know, that at least as far the global Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement is concerned, our global tsunami response is one of the largest
operations our staff and volunteers have ever undertaken in the 146 year
history of the Movement.
Let me share just some of the figures with you:
- Over 20,000 local staff and volunteers were engaged in the immediate aftermath and are still active today in rehabilitation activities
- More than 500 expatriate staff have been deployed, 56 of them Australian Red Cross experts in areas of health, water and sanitation, relief, logistics, project management and tracing
- Globally the Red Cross raised about AUD $2.8 billion…Australian Red Cross about $112 million, of which around $58.7 million – approximately 52% - has been spent or committed
- Over 40 Red Cross or Red Crescent National Societies are operational in affected areas
- 18 Emergency Response Units were deployed – and I will talk about these a bit more later on…
You may ask yourself “How did they achieve all that”, and the answer is
very simple – the - Red - Cross - was already there! What is unique about
our organisation is that we are a network of over 180 Red Cross and Red
Crescent organisations with grassroots presence. Our staff and volunteers
are in fact a part of the communities they serve throughout the tsunami
affected region and throughout the world.
So we are there, on the ground, providing aid and support from the very
first minute after a disaster strikes, and sadly, so many key Red Cross
people from Aceh and elsewhere lost their lives in trying to help their
fellow human beings when the tsunamis hit their communities. As a movement
we rely on our grassroots colleagues to be our eyes and ears and help us
provide immediate and appropriate assistance in any emergency.
The key to our Red Cross Movement past, as well as our future beyond tsunami
success in responding to disasters and long-term development issues is this
very grassroots presence, unparalleled in the aid world today. For the Red
Cross was there, is there, and will be there, when the disaster is long
since over.
Well before the tsunami disaster ‘opened the doors’ of Aceh to many aid
agencies, one of the very few organisations with a presence there was the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), carrying out its role as
stipulated in the Geneva Conventions where it worked there alongside our
colleagues from the Palang Merah Indonesia, or PMI, the Indonesian Red
Cross.
The same goes for Tamil-controlled areas of Sri Lanka, where the ICRC has
been working for over 20 years. Such long term operational experience,
existing contacts, intimate knowledge of the local environment and
situation, and most importantly, an understanding and commitment by local
stakeholders to our mandate helps us respond in the most effective manner.
But what was new even to us in the tsunami scenario was the sheer scale of
destruction and its geographical spread and it was the response to meeting
this catastrophic event which will drive us to change some of the ways we
will work in the future.
One of the elements that helped us overcome the challenges of the initial
emergency response was the deployment of the Red Cross Emergency Response
Units – ERUs. The concept of ERUs has been developed to enable rapid
response to natural disasters and other emergencies as part of an integrated
disaster management system. ERUs enable a coordinated and targeted response
while ensuring quick and effective delivery of emergency aid.
In the tsunami disaster, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement sent 18 ERUs to
the region. However, only one of those Emergency Response Units came from
the region itself, and the remainder came from the northern hemisphere.
Australian Red Cross has the expertise and knowledge to develop this type of
a disaster response mechanism as a permanent feature of our first response
to disasters in the region, and I am determined to do that with support from
the public, the government and our corporate partners.
I also want to flag today, really for the first time, another new strategic
direction for Australian Red Cross’ future post tsunami. It is my intention
as CEO to not only to boost our emergency response capacity in terms of
hardware associated with Emergency Response Units but to significantly lift
our human resource capacity in this area. ARC is an organisation which has
as one of our foundations the work of volunteers in supporting our work
within Australia, additionally we have a sound reputation for the training
and quality of delegates we send overseas. However we have not until now
brought these two modes of response together to build the capacity of our
emergency overseas work force to the extent we need to in order to be able
to comprehensively respond to the increasingly prolific emergencies in our
region. I believe that there is a rich resource of skilled and talented
Australians who are able to make a contribution in this area. In years to
come, we will be reaching out to build alliances with doctors and other
health workers, water sanitation and engineering experts and a diverse
cross-section of other Australians with practical skills and know how and
who want to work with Red Cross in responding to disasters.
Finally, I believe that ARC must also look to initiate new and creative ways
of working in the aftermath of the tsunami.
We are rapidly developing ways of working with small and different partners
to ensure quick and appropriate aid goes to those most in need.
I personally witnessed a great example of that type of activity when I
visited a community project on the Indonesian island of Nias, where ARC is
supporting a small Australian NGO called the Zero-to-One Foundation. This
Foundation was set up by an Australian businessman, Geoff Thwaites, in
memory of his son Robert who tragically lost his life in the Bali Bombings.
This is a good example of Australian Red Cross finding new ways of working
for vulnerable people. Zero to One had undertaken the ground work required,
they sorted out the issue of land ownership, they carried out extensive
community consultation, and they engaged the local community in their
solutions and their projects.
Recently I had the pleasure of seeing those houses and handing over the keys
to the first family that received a new home courtesy of the Australian
public. This young couple, Joshua and Rosinta, and their three small
children, had been living in temporary accommodation.
Together with the support of the Australian people, we are truly in a
position to make a difference to their lives!
The tsunami appeal and the unprecedented generosity that followed also
challenges us to do everything in our power to ensure the maximum possible
amount of donated funds are used to assist those in need and as little as
practically possible on any overheads.
The not-for-profit sector has an obligation to the people we serve not only
to champion high ideals but to also be pacesetters in good management
practices that ensure the highest level of resources are available to
benefit people on the ground.
I am fully committed to ensuring that Australian Red Cross continues to be a
leader in the not for profit sector, insisting on transparency and
accountability in all the work we do both in Australia and overseas.
To this end, Australian Red Cross takes a very conservative approach to the
tsunami appeal, as it has done in other recent appeals when it comes to
allocating costs. Our approach to these issues is set out in the joint
reporting process with other aid agencies.
In terms of accountability too, the Red Cross is paying particular attention
to making sure we keep all our stakeholders fully informed about what is
happening with the tsunami funds. We are making a concerted and planned
effort to inform our donors, corporate supporters, relevant government
departments, and the public at large (via our website) about all our
activities and expenditure.
All of this friends, is to one purpose only…to ensure that we fulfil the
principles of our Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement of bringing
humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable and the suffering.
Our Vision remains that of improving the lives of vulnerable people by
mobilising the power of humanity.
Thank you
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