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News and Notes
October 2011 |
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 Greetings!
First month online for Intercross, the new blog of the ICRC in North America, and already thirty posts on humanitarian operations, law and policy and ICRC history.
This month, we share with you a selection of posts and articles published since we started the blog. We include links to two "Dispatches" on health care in southern Afghanistan written by Monica Campbell, an independent reporter, as well as links to "From the Field" interviews on current ICRC operations, including Libya. For those interested in the history of humanitarian action, we provide a link to our first foray into the ICRC's archives.
In the last weeks, the Assembly of the ICRC appointed Peter Maurer as our next president. Mr. Maurer will succeed Jakob Kellenberger, who has been president since 2000. Mr. maurer will take up his new responsibilities next July.
Earlier this month, we also welcomed the release of Gilad Shalit and Palestinian detainees. For more details on our involvement in the release operation, we invite you to listen to an interview with ICRC Jerusalem Head of Mission Nicolas Von Arx.
Make sure to add Intercross to your Favorites list and do leave us a comment whenever you visit. As always, we welcome your feedback.
Kind regards,
The ICRC Washington Delegation
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| Dispatch: Urgent Deliveries in Afghanistan
 Monica Campbell, a San Francisco-based journalist, reports for Intercross from Kandahar, Afghanistan. In her second dispatch, she writes about an ICRC program that trains and equips local taxi drivers to fill the need for ambulances by delivering war wounded to Kandahar hospital."While the pilot project, which launched in 2010, is still small, its network of 35 drivers spread throughout Afghanistan's four southern provinces is singular" says Ms. Campbell.
Continue to Intercross for the full article as well as a multimedia feature with photographs by Kate Holt. |
Reasserting the Neutrality of Humanitarian Action
 While it remains a cornerstone of our modus operandi worldwide, the neutrality principle was in recent years roundly rejected by most aid actors operating in Afghanistan.
Author Fiona Terry wrote about neutrality and how strict adherence to it has enabled the ICRC to expand its operational surface in the latest issue of the International Review of the Red Cross.
While in town last week, Fiona spoke with Intercross about the need for aid organizations to embrace neutrality as a guiding principle if they are to assist victims of conflict across front lines and political divides.
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Few people know that the ICRC owns a unique collection of radio broadcasts that tell the story of half a century of humanitarian action, from the immediate aftermath of WW II era up to the 1990s.
In the upcoming months, Intercross will feature rarely heard recordings from that collection that bring to life the rich history of the ICRC and its work during the Cold War.
Click here to listen to Jean Pictet, former senior member and Vice-President of the ICRC, explaining how the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross developed over time and "on the basis of facts and real life" to become the charter of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
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