Interview: Accessing people affected by war very hard, but a must, ICRC director-general says

To people flying the flag of Red Cross, get access to people trapped in armed conflict is very difficult and in most cases very dangerous, but "we need to work with close proximity to people affected by war," a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.

Yves Daccord, director-general of the ICRC, said that to get access to people affected by war is a big challenge for his organization at present.

"As a humanitarian organization, we need to work with close proximity to people affected by war," said Daccord, who was at UN Headquarters in New York to attend a UN meeting on humanitarian affairs, a thee-day event which concluded on Wednesday.

When working in a warring country, the ICRC staff are "not just in the capitals, (or) sit in a hotel, No! No! We want to be close," he said.

For example, in Syria, the ICRC workers are not just in the capital Damascus, they are also in Aleppo and Homs, where armed conflicts are going on, he said. "In Afghanistan, we are in Jalalabad and other places which is very close to what is happening."

"Accessing people today is very complicated because the issue is difficult, because they are in war," Daccord said.

At the same time, "we work in a very close partnership with national Red Cross or Red Cresent," he said. "In every country, you have a Red Cross or a Red Cresent, we have the same emblem, the same structure, and we work very closely together."

"We work with an ambition of close proximity," he said.

TRANSPARENT AND NEUTRAL

The requirement from the organization is transparency, Daccord said, "so that the government knows exactly what we are doing. We can not impose actions on people, we have to be transparent on what we really want to do."

"As an organization, we have to really demonstrate that we are radically neutral and impartial," he said. "People do not trust you anymore if you say 'I'm the Red Cross, you have to trust me because I'm good.' No! Prove to me that you are good!"

"As an organization, we have to make sure everyday, everywhere we demonstrate that we are a very impartial and independent organization," he said. "That is very, very important."

The ICRC, based in Geneva, is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and provide them with assistance.

Established in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the Geveva Conventions and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It directs and coordinates the international activities conducted by the movement in armed conflict and other situations of violence.

Daccord said that his organization is different from other humanitarian bodies and relevant UN agencies because "we are mainly focusing on the armed conflict, which is out of reach to most people."

"We are absolutely radically humanitarian," he said. "So our interest is about the humanitarian need of the people, and only that. So we don't have as an organization a social agenda or a change agenda."

"We don't want to change the country, not at all," he said. "We are very careful (as) we are invited into the country. We are very specific on the humanitarian affair."

Meanwhile, he said, "We are a very discreet organization. So we are in favor of talking behind closed doors with the government, we don't talk to the media before talking with the government."

"So if you want to be trusted, you really have to show that you are able to be very serious of being trusted," he said.

RISK MANAGEMENT

On risk management, he said, "We agree that the risk is the same for our locally hired staff as well as our international staff. We do not want just our local partners at risk while our international staff are nicely in the capital. No! No!"

In fact, the ICRC's local staff and their international counterparts are both in dangerous areas to stay close to the people in the conflict, he said. "We have security management to train people to do the job in dangerous environments."

"We have a very, very sophisticated training program to support our team in order for them to do the best," he said.

The team on the ground has to assess the security situation constantly, he said. "We work without weapons. So our fragility is our strength."

STRONG TIES WITH UN

"We have a very strong relationship (with the United Nations), at the same time we are totally independent," Daccord said. "We are a Swiss-based organization with an international mandate. We have this mandate coming from the Geneva Conventions, signed by all the parties, including China, which is a very important party to the Geneva Conventions."

"The Conventions gives us a mandate to intervene in an armed conflict and a war," he said.

In the United Nations, the ICRC has observer status, its representatives participate in the UN debate, and "we are there to coordinate and collaborate with the UN on specific issues," he said.

For example, the ICRC was at the UN Security Council two months ago to ask the 15-nation council that it could adopt a resolution on health care in danger. On May 3, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn attacks on medical and humanitarian personnel in violent conflict while demanding relevant parties facilitate safe and unimpeded passage for those engaged in medical duties.

Over the past three years, 2,400 targeted attacks had been carried out against patients and health care workers, transport and centers in 11 countries. The targeting of medical centres resulted in deep effects in both the immediate and long terms.

Bombing hospitals meant hundreds of thousands of people losing access to health care and the erasure in seconds of decades-long efforts to reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and fight disease.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the ICRC and other humanitarian partners as reliable partners playing a unique and vital role in conflict and disaster areas.

REALISTIC BUDGET

Daccord said that the ICRC keeps a realistic budget, which takes into account the need of people in armed conflict and financial constraints which came from economic difficulties in wake of the global financial and economic crisis over the past years.

"These days, we are living in a world with economic difficulties and pressure," he said. "We ask our people when they present the budget, to present a budget based on the need of the people, but also on the constraints. Our objective of the budget is to spend 100 percent, so I do not ask for billions that we do not receive. It is a very, very well calculated budget."

"So we are very transparent, precise and very clear about our budget," he said. "I prefer to have something which is to be targeted, integrates the need with constraint. We do not have a large budget whose financial resources can not be met."

HAPPY WITH ICRC-CHINA COOPERATION

"I'm very happy with the ICRC's cooperation with China," he said. "We have a very strong and long relationship with China. China is a very important country which signed the Geneva Conventions."

China has a lot of experience in peacekeeping in the region and around the world, he said. "China has been working with us in implementing the international law. The other element which broadens our cooperation is that we have joint programs."

"You know, China has a lot of citizens in Africa," he said, adding that for several times, the ICRC was able to help the Chinese citizens freed as hostages in Africa.

"Over time, we've been really able to cooperate with China very, very well," he said. "In the coming years, I am looking forward to seeing China to be one of the main donors supporting our organization. We really welcome China to be a very strong factor for our organization."

Daccord, born in 1964, held the post of the ICRC director-general since 2010. A former journalist, TV producer and international relations expert, his ICRC career has spanned more than two decades in a variety of posts and challenging contexts, including Israel and the Occupied Territories, Sudan, Yemen and Georgia. Enditem