Executive summary
The Europe region is diverse in political and socio-economic terms, in its geography, demography and culture, as well as its public health trends and vulnerability to natural disasters. Membership services and programme support to National Societies therefore need to be adapted to the respective needs and the national context of individual national societies, and country-level plans describe the proposed activities in some 20 countries. The roll-out of Strategy 2020 and related approaches will be an important priority.
There are also areas of common concern which have been identified as clear priorities by regional and global conferences. There is a compelling need to scale up our work in the areas of health and care, particularly HIV and AIDS, TB and harm reduction and in developing long-term approaches for working with a rapidly increasing ageing population.
Another key priority area is migration, where the focus will be on aligning programmes and technical support with the new migration policy, stronger advocacy and increased resource mobilisation. In addition, the International Federation will strongly promote and support efforts to combat trafficking in human beings.
Capacities, mechanisms and tools for disaster management coordination will be strengthened, including better contingency planning and legal preparedness (IDRL). Scaling up risk reduction will enable communities to become more resilient, while more attention will be given to addressing the humanitarian consequences of climate change through awareness, advocacy and concrete action.
The topic of multicultural interaction and the larger challenge of ensuring social cohesion in fastchanging and increasingly polarised societies was discussed in depth at the 8th European Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference in Vienna in 2010. It is unarguably an area where National Societies and volunteers can make a real and lasting contribution, and the Vienna commitments highlight the need to promote respect for diversity, both within the organisations and in society at large. The role of youth as agents of behavioural change is particularly relevant in this regard.
Humanitarian diplomacy efforts will support National Societies seeking to enhance their auxiliary role, with special emphasis on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. They will also lead to increased advocacy on key vulnerability and policy themes, supported by clear communications and campaigns. Resource mobilisation will increasingly shift from a traditional donor model towards incountry capacity building and new partnership models.
Moving towards a stronger role in coordination and facilitation the Europe zone team is committed to developing strong operational and global alliances, and to further support the global development of new tools and approaches for more effective collaboration, peer to peer support, networking and knowledge sharing.
Federation country-level presence will be integrated more closely into each National Society wherever feasible, and the overall Federation setup and structure across the region will be further adjusted.