Mr. Bekele Geleta”s Speech Delivered On July.8, 2015 At UNECA
I am glad to be here, and it is an honor to be invited to this anniversary. Thank you very much for inviting me.
80 years of existence – for the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, or any other organisation is a sure sign that the causes it serves and the principles it embodies are real and relevant, and that its services are accepted and appropriate. This is why the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement the National Societies, the IFRC, the ICRC is still the most well-known, recognized, accepted and respected organization at all levels all over the world. The Movements causes have been correct, their organizational basis and legal framework strong and they have served all people in need in full respect of the Fundamental Principles for more than a century and half. The Ethiopian Red Cross Society, in its full membership of this Movement, has successfully shared these roles and responsibilities here in Ethiopia and internationally for the past 80 years.
Let me start this presentation then with my deepest congratulations for its 80 years of loyal service to humanity.
How well has the Ethiopian Red Cross Society fared over the years in serving the causes of humanity? This question directly relates to the topic I have been asked to speak on – the Origin and Development of the Ethiopian Red Cross and my thoughts on the topic partly derive from nostalgic memories of my experiences working with the National Society during the second half of the 1980s, and partly from the long-distance engagement I maintained with the Society throughout my career at various levels of the IFRC.
Ethiopia and its people should be proud to have a national volunteer organization that has successfully maneuvered through different and difficult challenges ever since its formation, working in close partnership with all members of the Movement.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to give you a brief summary of the what and the how of these achievements and where I, from an old mans perspective, would like to see the National Society going into the future.
In historical parallel with the origin of the Movement, projecting the incalculable risk to human lives posed by an invasion of Ethiopia by a foreign power before the Second World War, individuals of good will and foresight took the moral courage to initiate the formation of a national red cross, with very little resources at their disposal, to ensure the provision of humanitarian services to the people. As anticipated, the invasion happened, and the National Society mobilized and deployed national and international volunteers to various parts of the country to save lives and alleviate the suffering of war. International support came more from sister European Societies rather than the international arm of the Movement.
The mission was fraught with enormous difficulty, including direct attacks on Red Cross units in a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention that grants protection to Red Cross personnel. The incredible bravery and heroism with which the Red Cross Ambulance teams and first aid volunteers performed their humanitarian duties in very difficult conditions deserves extraordinary tribute and a permanent chapter in the history of the Society.
The success of the mission at the very start of the journey won the hearts and minds of the general public, and served as the major source of social capital largely determining the nature and extent of the Societys engagement during the post-war period.
The focus was on a host of medico-social services including ambulance services, blood collection and transfusion, first aid and generally in supporting the primary health structure and service of the government in most parts of the country. In addition, the Ethiopian Red Cross was widely engaged in the development of medical personnel by establishing and managing the first nursing school in the country in partnership with developed sister societies.
As part of the hard and cruel lessons learned from its engagement during the war and as part of the Movements missions, the Ethiopian Red Cross worked hard in the subsequent years to build awareness of how to deal with the root causes of conflict and violence. This was based on increasing focus on international understanding and peace through sustained dissemination of the Fundamental Principles and values promoting solidarity. It did also effectively participate in the global campaign, through humanity to peace, launched by the IFRC at the beginning of the 1980s.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Ethiopian Red Cross Society, like all other members of the global Red Cross and Red Crescent family, is principally known as an organization whose major role is mitigating the consequences of natural disasters, including droughts, earthquakes, floods and others.
In this respect, Ethiopia has repeatedly suffered from devastating droughts and famine – especially in the 1970s and 80s – affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and necessitating a strong engagement of all organizations in response and rehabilitation, including the Ethiopian Red Cross. In particular, during the worst drought famine of the 1980s that killed hundreds of thousands of people, the National Society in a short time increased its capacity and expanded its reach to over a million beneficiaries with a monthly provision of critically needed assistance. This was performed with remarkable efficiency and effectiveness as compared to the massive operations of the Movement in other parts of Africa, the Sahel region and Sudan, which had been hit by the same disaster.
To mitigate the effects of the cyclical drought that subjected the people to the agony of repeated famine, the Ethiopian Red Cross focused on understanding the root causes of the disaster, and helping the people to work themselves out of dependence on humanitarian aid through strengthening their coping capacities and resilience. That was how the National Society pioneered open involvement in development in areas of environmental protection such as tree planting and terracing, soil conservation, water development and protection, provision of seeds, strengthening household income, and in primary health care in close partnership with the Ministries of Agriculture and Health. This was a completely new approach for a National Society and created some controversy within the Movement and externally, sparking a debate about if the Red Cross should move beyond its traditional mandate of disaster response. This debate continued until I became Secretary General of the IFRC and development was formally endorsed in Strategy 2020 as one of the major functions of the Federation and its member Societies.
If we look at the experiences of the Ethiopian Red Cross and conceptualize them, it is clear that this National Society has stood in close support of vulnerable communities from its creation, through 80 years and to the present day – deploying volunteers that come from the communities themselves, its services grouped into three broad areas as per its mandate: disaster response and rehabilitation, development, and the prevention of violence or conflict and the promotion of peace, in one combination or the other depending on the situation that has caused the vulnerabilities.
Many have posed the alarm for specialization and focus to spread the fear of failure by so broad areas of engagement. This argument calls for sufficient explanation and understanding of the work of the Red Cross within each discipline.
Put simply, there is no better organization to convince people to do or not to do in relation to any undertaking. People are more willing and able to listen to Red Cross messages, as they understand that our messages are made in their interest and do not carry the biases of politics, religion, or economic class. During or after conflict or disasters, the Red Cross serves in response and rehabilitation. Before conflict or disasters, and long after provision of assistance had stopped and where neither are expected or anticipated, the Red Cross works in dissemination, mitigation, mobilization to action, and in influencing changes in ways of life, attitudes and mindset. So in each of the three disciplines the Red Cross addresses vulnerabilities within its mandates. In most cases it serves as a change agent linking peoples needs with the services of specialized agencies and supports the agencies on delivering the services. One can think of many such examples.
One important reason why the development role should be openly articulated and promoted is that the Movement, including the Ethiopian Red Cross, is heavily dependent on humanitarian funding which is very much limited and, as National Societies have always been engaged in development work, they should have had a share of development funding. Its various health related activities, small scale family income farm support, violence and conflict reduction undertakings, climate change and environment protection work and much more are all part and parcel of developmental partnership. If the resource base of the Ethiopian Red Cross is expanded it can contribute a lot more through mobilizing its volunteers in all parts of the country for good causes.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Having discussed the what, Allow me now to pass on to the how. This area was, and will remain, much more challenging.
The Ethiopian Red Cross has had to create and maintain a viable and strong organization with visionary leadership and competent management, accountable systems, committed and trained volunteers and skilled manpower to run it. It had to create and sustain a respectable working relationship that accepts and adheres to the Fundamental Principles and established norms and standards with the successive governments (three very different ones). It had to be received by the people of the country as their own irrespective of biases or predilections; to create, nurture and maintain partnerships within and outside the Movement; survive and thrive in the face of competition from within and outside the humanitarian industry; and – equally importantly – closely follow national and global changes for purposes of growth or adjustment. One could write a voluminous book on this but I will say only a few words on each of them.
On the internal organizational dynamics, I will attest to the best of my knowledge that the Ethiopian Red Cross now enjoys a leadership with strong governance (congra Chairman Ahmed) and a very competent management (congra SG Frehiwot). I would not be ashamed to also state we were good during my time as Secretary General of the National Society in the 80s, as we had very able governance (my appreciation to Dr Dawit as the Chair then) and I worked with a very competent management group and we delivered very well. Today the Ethiopian Red Cross could compare with any strong National Society, not only in Africa but elsewhere in the world. Dr Abbas may contest that Kenya is the number one in Africa, no quarrel on that, but the Ethiopian Red Cross could compete for number two.
On relationship with the Government or Governments, the Red Cross is not a self-contained island in a country. It has to respect and function within the laws and regulations established by the government of the country but in strict compliance with our Principles and values. We could look at a number of major areas.
On the operational side I see three main conditions that the Ethiopian Red Cross has been expecting from each government it worked with freedom to make decisions of what to do without any political interference; freedom to choose the vulnerable people it decides to support at any given time, and finally freedom to move within the borders of the country to reach the vulnerable people chosen in accordance with our Red Cross established criteria. But that does not mean the government does not have oversight responsibility. The Ethiopian Red Cross is a public organization and the government should make sure that it works according to the rules, that it is accountable, has no corruption etc. Have the successive Governments of the country given the National Society sufficient operational space in accordance with the expected standards, these three conditions? I do not go into comparing the three different regimes but overall my answer is yes – with some challenges every now and then, which were handled carefully and judiciously.
On the legal side, the National Society works under a parliament-enacted national law that defines the parameters of its existence – the only civil society body whose relations are regulated by a separate law. The Government also effectively participates in developing international humanitarian legal frameworks, standards and norms approved by the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which is convened every four years. All Governments of the world, all National Societies, IFRC and ICRC attend as rightful members, and both the Ethiopian Red Cross and the Ethiopian Government remain active participants. In this the Ethiopian Red Cross works closely with the Government but it is free to take independent positions on any given resolution. This has been an area where the three different governments and the National Society have closely worked together to the best of my knowledge.
On budgetary allocations, the governments of different countries provide budgetary allocations, in many cases non earmarked, to support the different activities of their countrys National Society. But for a long time on the one hand donor National Society partners, IFRC and ICRC pressured developing National Societies – including the Ethiopian Red Cross – not to receive government budget allocation to avoid being a dependent organ of the State. On the other hand, the governments themselves, due to shortage of resources, resisted consideration in favour of other priorities. This was wrong. The Ethiopian Red Cross is an organization that belongs to Ethiopians and until sustainable economic growth takes place to raise enough resources from the people internally the Government should be able to provide minimum allocation at least to cover the core cost to ensure continuity independent of international assistance. I hope the leadership of the National Society would allow me to pay a big tribute to the Great Leader, the late PM Meles, who after a meeting with the leadership of the Ethiopian Red Cross and myself as the then SG of the IFRC, initiated with the then FM but current PM Hailemariam and the current FM but former MOH, Tewodros, a process of budgetary allocation in addition to a big commitment to support the Pan African Conference to be held in Addis. It was a great Conference that unfortunately took place after he passed away. I presume minimum budget allocation takes place now if I am right.
Integrating the Ethiopian Red Cross into the ownership of the people: Because most resources and a good part of expertise used to come from outside people entertained the idea that they would have very little say in what the Ethiopian Red Cross does or may not do. They did not feel that it is fully a national organization. It took time to correct and manage the relationship. After some membership campaigns, volunteer recruitment and training, and intensive communication including at the grassroots level, opinions started changing – including poor farmers contributing whatever they could from their harvests. Today, with Ethiopias fast economic growth, I understand that the National Societys leadership and volunteers work actively to integrate the Ethiopian Red Cross into the growth process, and into the public, the younger generation, academics and especially the private sector. The vulnerable and the poor should not feel left out. They must feel that they belong, that they are part of and own the change, and the wealth created should be shared in such a way that the vulnerable people receiving assistance can make informed decisions about their lives and wellbeing, and be part of the economic market and the producer/consumer/service cycle. The wealth creators, mainly the private sector I hear, have started to make good contributions through the Ethiopian Red Cross to enable volunteers to work with vulnerable people to help pull up the poverty level or income infrastructure.
Partnership: Over the years since its creation, the Ethiopian Red Cross closely worked with partners internal to the International Red Cross and Crescent Movement, such as donor National Societies in developed countries, the IFRC and ICRC. Occasionally there have been partnerships with the UN family and others. Ethiopian Red Cross strongly believed in attracting and retaining partnerships overcoming the occasional challenges that may arise. Special mention should be made of Western National Societies and Japan for their huge contributions, especially in capacity building. I would like to be allowed to recognize a few of them the National Societies of Sweden, Germany, America, Japan and Britain for their outstanding contribution not only for relief during the worst famine of the 80s, but in support of the development work being pioneered by the Ethiopian Red Cross at a time when development was outside the guidance provided by some IFRC leaders.
Initially the partnership decisions on budgetary allocations and operational issues heavily inclined towards the donor National Society, IFRC and ICRC. With time, as the rules of the game became more clear, the Ethiopian Red Cross started asserting its position that it would accept partnerships only on the basis of equal say. There was strong resistance at the beginning, with some relationships degenerating into threats of withdrawal. But the Ethiopian Red Cross always stood its ground because it knew that it was right. There were particular instances when a few donors chose to show some muscles and got pushed out of the country and lost international support for their case as well.
Competition: Competition was always there for a long time mainly from International humanitarian and religious organizations. Of late national humanitarian organisations are mushrooming as well. These posed no serious threat to the Ethiopian Red Cross so far. But as the humanitarian industry has increasingly become a big money industry, both nationally and globally, the private sector could soon be knocking on the door if not started already and governments to cut the cost of keeping the military machinery they built for yesterdays wars are making their services available for humanitarian purposes. If properly handled these arrangements, although difficult, could be manageable. However, unless the Ethiopian Red Cross duly penetrates the new development of avoiding what could be termed the middle level in the flow of donor/recipient relational dynamics by which I mean resorting more into direct giving using modern communication tools – its resource base could be seriously undermined. This is a challenge that could be discussed separately.
National and global trends: a lot is happening in this area today. In countries facing disasters or crises, the Red Cross is mostly the only organization that is currently accepted across the frontlines to provide assistance and comfort to millions of civilians in this time of tremendous madness and distraction with no immediate light at the end of the tunnel.
Modern technology serves as the best instrument to spread information and knowledge across the world, and it empowers individuals to make decisions to do anything they want individually or in groups and at any time. This trend erodes cultural and traditional authority, power centres at all levels, family, community and governmental levels and demands changes. What kind of change is not yet clearly on the table. Brute forces are being applied on both sides – governments to contain the anarchy, destructions and forceful imposition of the so called new ideas on the people; and the opposition termed extremists proclaiming nobody could stop them and destroying almost everything, indiscriminately and mercilessly killing people who they feel are not on their side.
The conventional approach of warfare may not be able to stop this. What may be needed is thought leadership to convince the general public on the directions they should take to deny support to the extremists; and also to reach the extremists themselves, and people who are vulnerable to radicalisation, and persuade them that their methods are wrong and that the light of change is somewhere else. Could the Ethiopian Red Cross, at least in some minor way, contribute to generate at first national and gradually global dialogue through its younger volunteers? Ethiopian academia could help, government wisdom could be added, and the prime movers of the community could be attracted to register as National Society volunteers. You have the link, the global Movement platform, and our more than 20 million active volunteers worldwide our Red Cross mind activists who are committed to make the world equally liveable by all, whose loyalty is to humanity outside of any bias whatsoever, who are ready and willing to help others. Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers are the very best, and that is why in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, we are trusted to provide a service to all across the frontlines – neutral intermediaries by definition.
A few words of concluding remarks in forms of where I would like this National Society to be into the future.
a) I would urge you to intensify delivery in all three areas of activities within your mandates, as those are what you can do best,. With sharper and smarter approaches, cultivated from your long and wide experience in being the first to arrive and the last to leave, the Ethiopian Red Cross can and should consolidate its leading edge in emergency management. The Societys potential to contribute to development should also fully realized, maximising its contribution within the framework of the countrys growth and transformation agenda which, among others, focuses on poverty and vulnerability reduction.
b) Strengthen your relationship with your government to encourage a transparent and open allocation of donor government development aid resources and all what goes through civil society to be channeled through you, Ethiopias National Society, the most important civil society actor in the country. As necessary you may invite the national society of the donor country to be the first partner of choice for implementation. This could be particularly important as it would contribute to building people to people relations between the two countries.
c) As I mentioned above the private flow of both humanitarian and development funding in the future, especially from the private sector and the diaspora, will take an ultramodern shape. To remain in real business you have to study this flow and organize yourselves to adjust. The IFRC and some National Societies may lead in such studies but you should look at what is happening in this country yourselves as FDI is growing fast and the number of diaspora returnees is growing in a big way, as more and more people are attracted by the rate of economic growth in the country. Both would be willing to allocate some share for what we may understand as corporate social responsibility. They would certainly want to be seen to be willing to alleviate poverty and suffering in this country.
d) As fast wealth creation takes place, the gap between those who own and those who are poor looks set to widen unless reinvestment takes place for job creation and other spill over in services and demands are sufficiently created. As a bridge between government, the private sector and the people, you should look at how to create a positive sense of belonging by reaching out to the most needy by mobilizing internal resources. As the National Society mobilizes young people and significantly benefits from their services, it is also necessary to develop its capacities to provide the necessary support to the youth fostering a culture of positive thinking and good citizenship. It is also important to realize the National Societys potential to provide relevant skills and competencies, which can go a long way in enhancing your contribution to improving access to economic and social opportunities for young people, especially the unemployed ones.
e) It is very important to maintain high levels of delivery, accountability, transparency, public respect and good image.
f) The bottom line for the sustainable development of the Ethiopian Red Cross, and any other National Society committed to reform to achieve greater sustainability, impact and self- reliance, primarily hinges on concentrated and sustained efforts to make the National Society of the people, for the people and by the people irrespective of politics, religion or social or economic class. Broad based volunteering/membership, reflecting the diversity of the population, is key. It is also crucially important to remember that the Red Cross story is the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary work.
Mr chair, volunteers, staff and leadership of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, I again express my sincere congratulations on 80 years of extraordinary work, and I wish you the very brightest of futures.
Thank you.
Bekele Geleta
SG Emeritus