World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8 across the globe to pay tribute to the millions of volunteers, the real frontline aid workers, who work tirelessly and often at great personal risk. These 17 million volunteers, and nearly half a million staff across 190 countries, comprise the world’s largest independent humanitarian network – the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. In Delhi too, the Movement partners came together to honour this spirit of humanity – see the celebrations within, included competitions in online essay writing, painting and photography, all organized jointly.
As this edition of the newsletter comes out – my first as the Head of Regional Delegation based in Delhi – we are now already into the busy quarter of the year, with many different events underway. The 16th Annual Moot Court Competition, conducted with the Indian Society for International Law (ISIL) brought together over 50 teams of bright, aspiring lawyers. The Punjab University team mooted its way to victory, ensuring a spot in the South Asia, and hopefully, Asia Pacific rounds. The following week the Nepal national Moot Court Competition was held in Kathmandu. The Regional Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) Course, organized with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), brought together 32 participants from eight countries, including Syria and Afghanistan. This was the second edition of the course which addresses the principles and practice of humanitarian relief in disasters, violence and complex crises affecting populations.
In addition, among many other programmes, we completed an Intermediate-level training in Wheelchair Service Provision with the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre; an interfaith dialogue with scholars from diverse religious faiths to discuss their role in the evolving humanitarian landscape, and co-hosted an important panel discussion on Sentient Technologies, Cyber Weapons and Autonomous Platforms at the Annual CyFy Conference with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Upcoming are the 10th edition of the PII-ICRC Press Awards to recognize humanitarian reporting scheduled for November.
Lastly, the regional delegation welcomed into its portfolio, the country of Nepal (in addition to Bhutan and the Maldives). The ICRC addresses the consequences of the internal conflict that ended in 2006 and helps people affected by unrest with most of the work carried out together with the Nepal Red Cross Society.
On a personal note, after some fourteen years in Asia, and a similar period working on humanitarian issues on other continents, I come to India at a time when both the region and India itself are increasingly dynamic and genuinely global in both their ambition and capacity. The welcome I have received in this diverse, culturally rich and important region has already been incredibly generous, well informed and indeed expectant – exactly as it should be! I firmly believe that the region has an enormous amount to offer on humanitarian issues, both at home and abroad – and that the experience and partnership that the ICRC offers can play a role in that. I particularly look forward to continuing to develop the important partnership we have with the Indian Red Cross Society and, in general, to an enriching and challenging experience in Delhi. I welcome your guidance and support as we try together to build a world where the most vulnerable are not left unprotected or unassisted.
Jeremy England
Head of the Regional Delegation
New Delhi