In a historical first for the Pacific and for the Cook Islands in particular, the Secretary-General for the Cook Islands Red Cross, Niki Rattle will chair the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross Red Crescent Conference being held in Geneva Switzerland from 28 November-1 December 2011.
Held every four years, the conference includes representation by 194 State Parties and 186 National Societies and in recognition of the global event being chaired for the first time by a Cook Islander - the Prime Minister Hon Henry Puna has been invited to attend at the cost of the Swiss Government.
“The Prime Minister’s attendance fulfills the obligation of Cook Islands as a State Party to the Geneva Conventions and is very pleasing to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement on a regional, national and international level,” said Niki Rattle.
“It is very strong moral support for the Cook Islands Red Cross and reflects to the world that although we might not be a warring country, we are a small neutral nation willing to play our own part with other countries to reduce human suffering in war by humanitarian intervention.”
She said that in the past, few Pacific government representatives had attended the conference and as part of a local programme to disseminate information on IHL the Red Cross had been advocating to Government to attend the Geneva conference.
“This is important both for the work of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and the Cook Islands Red Cross, and also because it raises our profile in the international community of nations.”
This year as party to the Geneva Conventions and its protocols, the Cook Islands Government established an International Humanitarian Law National Committee to deal with issues relating to IHL and implementation of international conventions in this field. The Committee includes representatives of the Cook Islands Police, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Finance and Economic Management.
The overall objective of the 31st Conference is to strengthen International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by focusing on four areas: strengthening legal protection for victims of armed conflicts; strengthening Disaster Law; strengthening local humanitarian action and addressing barriers to health care.
The agenda responds to the worldwide increase in the number and impact of natural disasters and related displacement; the rapidly changing nature of human vulnerability and the evolving human cost of contemporary armed conflicts and other situations of violence, as well as increasing global migration.
Convening under the banner of “Our World. Your Move – For Humanity”, the conference recognises evolving contemporary humanitarian challenges and the responsibility of all Conference members to address these.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. Its main goal is to alleviate and prevent human suffering wherever it may be found.
There are three arms of the Movement, they are: the ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross), which gives assistance to and promotes the rights of victims of war; the IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent) that assists people affected by disasters through the national Red Cross society in collaboration with government response efforts; and the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies around the world comprising 186 National Societies in 186 countries.
The 31st international Red Cross Conference will be preceded by a General Assembly of the International Federation (23 - 25 November) and the Council of Delegates (26 November), which adopts the agenda of the Conference.
Jim Gosselin, Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration will accompany the Prime Minister to Geneva.

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