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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
The League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has a long tradition of development work. At every new stage the objectives set are therefore not simply the outcome of a purely intellectual process, but are reviewed and adapted in the light of this tradition.
The opinions expressed in this article commit only the author.
1 General Assembly of the League, Second Session, Manila, 1981, Decision 31 and Twenty-fourth International Conference of the Red Cross, Manila, 1981, Resolution XXV.
2 League— Strategy for the Development of National Societies in the Eighties (hereafter Strategy), Geneva, 1982, p. 8.Google Scholar
3 ICRC, League— Development of National Societies as a Contribution to National Development, Geneva, 08 1986 Google Scholar. A document prepared for the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross, October 1986.
4 Ibid., p. 1.
5 Ibid., p. 2.
6 Strategy, op. cit., p. 6.Google Scholar
7 See Institut universitaire d'Etudes du Développement (IUED), Il faut manger pour vivre… controverses sur les besoins fondamentaux et le développement, PUF, Paris, Cahiers de 1'IUED, Genève, 1980, 324 p.Google Scholar, especially Galtung, J., “Le développement dans la perspective des besoins fondamentaux”, pp. 51–128 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Preiswerk, R., “Identité culturelle, self-reliance et besoins fondamentaux”, pp. 129–153 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Berthoud, G., “Le piège des besoins”, pp. 157–178 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rist, G., “Questions fondamentales sur les besoins fondamentaux”, pp. 197–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Even if we accept the present theories of ecologists, who advise negative growth for developed countries, this can be accomplished only through a form of development.
9 Webster's Third New International Dictionary.
10 No institution other than the State can claim to meet all human needs.
11 “The ICRC, the League and the Report on the Re-Appraisal of the Role of the Red Cross”, off-print of the International Review of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1979, 72 pGoogle Scholar
12 In his report, Tansley gives 18 reasons for the weaknesses of National Societies:
1. Lack of clear purpose shared throughout the whole Society.
2. Ad hoc methods of selecting activities.
3. Failure to relate activities to those of other organizations.
4. Failure to measure impact and relevance of activities.
5. Concentration of activities in urban centres.
6. Complicated governing structures.
7. Leadership and membership drawn from a narrow base.
8. Infrequent changes in leadership.
9. Unclear definitions of membership.
10. Volunteers providing services denied participation in decision-making.
11. Full-time staff weak in numbers and in qualifications.
12. Reluctance to work with other groups.
13. Failure to seek professional advice.
14. Controlled or dominated by government.
15. Weak arrangements for financing.
16. Lack of understanding of Red Cross principles, functions and structure.
17. Failure to accept responsibility as a member of the Movement.
18. Self-satisfaction.
Tansley, Donald, Final Report: An Agenda for Red Cross, Geneva, 1975 Google Scholar. The Strategy (op. cit.) by the League picks up Tansley's 18 points and summarizes them under 8 headings, p. 6.
13 Points 1 to 5 of the preceding list.
14 Points 6 to 10.
15 Points 11 to 18.
16 “To carry out its aims it is essential that a Red Cross Society should be organized on a truly democratic basis. It should take all possible steps to ensure that membership of the Red Cross Society is open to all citizens.” Board of Governors, XIXth meeting, Oxford, 1946, Resolution 12.
17 In our opinion, this raises an extremely important point that should be studied as part of a true “Sociology of Time”. It is perhaps because the idea of time varies from one culture to another that we see in many places, within the Red Cross, buildings that were intended to render service but which are now in such a deplorable state of dilapidation that they have no activity and offer none.
18 Nunes, L., Stratégie décennale du développement Croix-Rouge, LRCS, Geneva, 09 1980, 72 p. (typescript).Google Scholar
19 We must not confuse a national programme with a national development programme. The latter deals with concrete actions whereas the former defines the policy of the National Society.
20 Perruchoud, R. International Responsibilities of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva 1982, p. 45.Google Scholar
21 Freymond, Jacques, Guerres, révolutions, Croix-Rouge, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, 1976, p. 47.Google Scholar
22 Tansley, , op. cit., p. 63.Google Scholar
23 Perruchoud speaks of a “scope of action so wide that the Red Cross might come close to being a general humanitarian agent”, op. cit., p. 44.Google Scholar
24 Max Huber, cited by Pictet, J., The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross, Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva, 1979, p. 17.Google Scholar
25 Twenty-third International Conference of the Red Cross, Bucharest, 1977, Resolution I.
26 Pictet, J., op. cit., p. 20.Google Scholar
27 Perruchoud, R., Les résolutions des Conférences Internationales de la Croix-Rouge, Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva, p. 392.Google Scholar
28 Pictet, J., op. cit., p. 20.Google Scholar
29 “The Red Cross should not seek to maintain a monopoly but to develop its effectiveness, which is based on specific and limited mandates. The ICRC, the League and the Report on the Re-Appraisal of the Role of the Red Cross, op. cit., p. 34.Google Scholar
30 Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1986, Resolution XXXI.
31 In 1921, the ICRC adopted four principles: Charity, Universality, Independence and Impartiality. In 1946, the League adopted these and added thirteen other fundamental principles and six “Rules for Application”. In 1948, the International Conference of the Red Cross adopted ten conditions for the recognition of National Societies. In 1952, the International Conference of the Red Cross adopted four tenets: universality, impartiality, independence and equality. In 1955, Jean Pictet published a book entitled Red Cross Principles and the International Conference of the Red Cross in 1965 at Vienna adopted the “Fundamental Principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality”.