The President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Kate Forbes, highly praised the results of the five-year transformation carried out by the Russian Red Cross (RRC). The IFRC President’s working visit to Russia took place fr om 18 to 20 May. During the visit, the delegation met with the leadership of the RRC, representatives of regional branches, as well as the organization’s staff and volunteers. The delegation also held a number of meetings with representatives of Russian public authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
The last working visit of the IFRC President to Russia took place in 2021. Over the past five years, the RRC has undergone a large-scale transformation, building a sustainable humanitarian response system for crises and emergencies, strengthening its regional network, introducing unified operational standards, and expanding humanitarian services and service points across the country. During this period, more than 8.6 million people received support from the RRC, while the total amount allocated for humanitarian aid exceeded 10 billion roubles.
As part of the visit, Kate Forbes was briefed on the RRC’s work and key results. The IFRC President also visited the RRC Education Centre for non-native Russian-speaking children, the RRC’s Moscow city branch, and held meetings with representatives of regional branches.
“I am completing my visit to the Russian Red Cross. I have had the opportunity to see the work being carried out here, starting with the Education Centre, wh ere people learn Russian to participate more fully in society, whether through school studies, gaining a new profession, or training to return to work. We also visited the Moscow city branch of the RRC and saw innovations in providing assistance to people in need. The branch provides medical equipment, delivers first aid training, and distributes food when necessary. It has been an important visit, and I would like to thank the RRC volunteers for all the work they do,” Kate Forbes concluded.
“We greatly appreciate receiving such a high assessment from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the RRC’s work across its various areas. The IFRC’s representatives interact daily with dozens of National Societies around the world and have a broad view of the development of the humanitarian movement as a whole. Since taking office, the IFRC President has visited 74 National Societies. We still have a great deal of work and many tasks ahead to further develop the organization. But it is very encouraging that the results of the organization’s transformation over the past five years have been recognised and duly appreciated,” said Pavel Savchuk, President of the RRC.
A particular focus of the visit was placed on discussing the RRC’s best practices, the development of humanitarian services, crisis response, and prospects for further cooperation.
As part of the visit, Kate Forbes also met with Alexander Alimov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The parties discussed cooperation between the IFRC and the RRC, the development of humanitarian programmes, and further strengthening of the RRC’s capacity. Particular attention was given to the Federal Law on the Russian Red Cross, which has entered into force, as well as its alignment with international humanitarian law and IFRC standards.
At the meeting with Andrey Plutnitsky, Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, Kate Forbes highly praised the joint programmes of the RRC and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on supporting people living with HIV and stressed the importance of scaling up such experience in other countries.
