One for All and All for One; Support and Assistance Models for an Effective IFRC

This report examines key elements in the complex but daily interactions between the IFRC, its secretariat, and the national societies which comprise its membership. It reviews three new institutional developments in particular: the creation of centers of excellence and service, the increased use of individual delegations as programming agents in poorer countries, and the more ample cultivation of partnerships outside of the Red Cross movement. Each of these developments is an indicator of the health, vitality, and creativity of the Movement. Yet each also calls into question the IFRC’s current ability to provide basic institutional coherence around core Movement principles for the many moving parts involved.

The report’s recommendations are premised on the widely held view that the IFRC in specific, and the Red Cross movement more generally, are global “public goods” with a recognized mandate and an impressive track record in responding to critical needs. The recommendations affirm the healthiness of a structure which encourages innovation and experimentation but at the same time urges that such growth be anchored by a more assertive IFRC and supportive Secretariat. The Secretariat does not have to be in the center of all the action, however, since some activities can appropriately remain delegated to new configurations of actors.