Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the 130th Anniversary of the Finnish Red Cross on May 7, 2007

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The founding words of the Red Cross were based on the idea that the dignity of every human being has to be protected irrespective of political, cultural and ethnic background. The respect shown to the Red Cross in war situations and other conflicts was, in its own way, an important step toward an international humanitarian policy. It is sad that we have moved away from this original idea in some areas in recent decades. There are various reasons for this.

In people’s minds, crises have become part of everyday life. International media brings even the most distant events almost in real time into our living rooms. At first, it wakes us up and can also raise our willingness to help. When these events reoccur, we may become numb to them. This is a particular challenge for charitable organisations for although the delivery of aid is quicker; it is still a slower process than this.

The amount and the nature of crises have also changed. Many more people suffer owing to humanitarian crises. Even though the number of violent conflicts in the world has reduced, they have become more complicated and multidimensional. They also increasingly target civilians.

Most of the conflicts are internal, within states. There can be many parties to the conflict. In internal conflicts, the civilian population often becomes the main target for military action. The aim is to spread fear among them: violence against women, such as rape, is more often used as a method of warfare. The use of child soldiers has also become increasingly common in conflicts.

Approximately 250 million people suffer from natural catastrophes. The term ‘natural catastrophe’ is, of course, only part of the truth. Climate change, urbanisation, unsustainable use of forest resources and the growth of the world’s population and other human activity have increased this tendency. A vicious circle is created: Poverty and environmental problems increase the vulnerability to and the emergence of catastrophes. In turn, they slow down and hinder sustainable development.

The future risk scenario is that in global climate change, the poorest areas of the world will suffer most from the floods, violent storms and drought. Pandemics and transmittable diseases also increase the problems. Owing to HIV/AIDS pandemic, the people in Sub-Saharan Africa are more vulnerable to the impact of catastrophes.

We have not been inactive. The aid given by states and humanitarian organisations has more than doubled since the beginning of the 1990’s. Despite this, the aid given is not sufficient to comprehensively meet the growing need. As a result, international aid donors have had to re-evaluate the principles of their own aid work in addition to continuously making their activities more effective.

In 2005, the Finnish humanitarian assistance was evaluated. The aid given by Finland was assessed as flexibly centralised and successful particularly because our country has focused its aid to both UN organisations and other capable organisations such as the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.

Finland’s new definition of humanitarian aid policy is built on this evaluation. Its key idea is that humanitarian aid is based on human rights. The needs of distressed people have to be seen as their rights, which the international community has the responsibility to answer. Aid and assistance work has to promote the rights enshrined in human rights agreements; the right for food, clean water and sufficient shelter. It also has to support anti-discrimination and equality. In the new policy definition, it is also considered important that the aid workers are involved at the different stages of the aid work and are responsible for the decisions made.

The second key principle of Finland’s humanitarian aid is continuity; the aid process needs to continue without disruption to the reconstruction and general development policy. It has to link together the short and long term aid activities. This requires persistent reconciliation of humanitarian aid and the forms of development co-operation to make the transitional period as smooth as possible.

In its new policy definition, Finland is committed along with other OECD countries to following the principles of good humanitarian aid. This strengthens the functioning multilateral co-operation in general, and particularly the key role of the UN system.
Naturally, the most difficult challenge for the humanitarian organisations is the unstable operational environment. In conflict situations, humanitarian work has unfortunately become very dangerous. It is common that humanitarian law is violated and the humanitarian organisations are attacked more often. In some situations, the safe delivery of aid has become impossible without the support of soldiers. In turn, this causes more problems. The aid workers have been attacked when the local fighters have not been able or willing to see the difference between the military and humanitarian actors.

This poses a significant and demanding challenge for the international community. The operational preconditions of impartial and independent humanitarian work have to be guaranteed. And also vice versa: independence of aid and keeping the ‘humanitarian space’ neutral form the basic conditions for the safety of relief workers.

Finland’s premise is that international humanitarian work and military sanction policy have to be kept apart. The guiding principles are the Oslo Guidelines, which were revised in 2006. If the delivery of aid and the safety of humanitarian personnel cannot be guaranteed except by military means, then accordingly the limited use of military force is acceptable. Even in these cases, military activity must only support the delivery of aid. This is why the humanitarian actors must always have a leading role in humanitarian aid work. The decision on the use of military support has to be based on the need defined by humanitarian organisations, not to the resources available. This is a clear principle, but difficult in practice!

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In December 2005, the European Union approved the new guidelines on international humanitarian law. Finland actively pushed forward this undertaking that aims to mainstream the international humanitarian law into the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. The goal of these guidelines is to increase the knowledge on the legal rules of war and intervene coherently in humanitarian law violations.

International humanitarian law was also one of the focus areas of the recent Finnish EU Presidency. A key theme was the consideration of humanitarian standards and human rights in actions against terrorism. These topics were discussed both in the EU working groups and in the dialogue with the third countries. According to the EU, the compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law has to be the starting point in all activities against terrorism.

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The Finnish Red Cross is a real multi-skilled organisation. It has an extensive local network and approximately 50,000 voluntaries that are actively involved in its work. The first aid group and friendship activity of the Finnish Red Cross have brought safety to Finnish society. Those 10,000 people who regularly visit lonely elderly people, prisoners, and handicapped people are friends in the true meaning of the word.

Finnish people are willing to help. The Red Cross has offered a reliable channel for humanitarian work for many decades. It has done so effectively and with quality. The international aid reserve of the Finnish Red Cross is one of the most educated and effective in this international movement, and especially its field hospitals and other medical aid preparedness are often the first to be in place.

The work of the Red Cross is effective, fast, open and responsible. The organisation is, through its national associations in many countries, already present in local communities. This is why the Red Cross has an outstanding knowledge of local circumstances, experience from a country to be supported and ready channels and networks in place. The Red Cross and the Red Crescent movement has done remarkable work by promoting norms and standards of international humanitarian work.

The work and the role of a helper of the Finnish Red Cross have changed during the decades. Many of those projects and services that were previously taken care of by organisations and voluntary work have become part of the functions and basic services of our welfare state.

Today, municipalities and State are responsible for the rescue of people in accidents and catastrophe situations. This development in rescue operations is clearly very positive. However, the actions of us, the private citizens, are still needed. I believe that in the future the importance of the Red Cross as an independent organisation that also co-operates with our own authorities, both in our country and abroad, will further increase.

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I would like to express my warmest congratulations to the Finnish Red Cross on its 130th anniversary. I thank you for your valuable work that you have done to reduce human suffering and to advocate human rights. I also wish your work all the success in the future.