Update to ICVA Members on the ICVA/SCHR Code of Conduct Project
27 July 2004

*for your action - to be forwarded to Liberia [FIELD VISIT 28 JULY to 4 AUGUST], Haiti, Sudan, and Afghanistan offices (where field visits will take place), please*

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To: ICVA Members
From: ICVA Secretariat
Date: 27 July 2004
Subject: THE RED CROSS/NGO CODE OF CONDUCT AT 10 - ICVA/SCHR PROJECT UPDATE
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Dear ICVA Members,

ICVA, along with the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR), is undertaking a project this year to revitalise the Red Cross/NGO Code of Conduct (hereafter “Code”) by looking at its relevance and implementation. The project aims to provide NGOs and the Red Cross movement with a practical reference tool to implement the Code in the future. The project, as such, is one that should be beneficial in the end to the humanitarian community as a whole.

2004 marks the tenth anniversary of the Code, which comes at a time when some are noting a certain “malaise” in humanitarianism, triggered by the crises in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has been argued that the erosion of the humanitarian principles that are part of the Code, and which have traditionally underpinned humanitarian action, are at a critical juncture.

The project will look at the practical application of the Code on the ground through four field visits. Through the collection of examples at the field level and at the headquarters’ level (of NGOs, Red Cross societies, host governments, donors, UN, academics, and perhaps the media in certain locations) the consultants undertaking the project will draft a “Commentary on the Red Cross/NGO Code of Conduct.” The draft commentary will be refined at a workshop to be held in November. The final Commentary will explain and clarify the 10 principles and annexes; provide some background and historical information on the original drafting of the Code, the selection of the 10 principles, and the addition of the three annexes; and an overview of experiences and examples of how NGOs and the Red Cross Movement have interpreted and used the Code. It is meant to be a practical reference tool that will help to inform operational decisions of humanitarian organisations.

Two consultants – Lewis Sida and Sean Lowrie – have been engaged to undertake the project. Lewis will undertake three of the field visits (Liberia, Haiti, and Sudan) and Sean will visit Afghanistan

The idea of field visits is to gather examples and experiences of how the Code has been applied, what challenges have occurred in implementing the Code, and to see if the Code is really a practical tool or not and to find out if there are improvements that are needed. Four locations with quite different contexts have been chosen, but each has seen some efforts (at least in the past) to work with the Code.

* * It would be helpful for ICVA members to please alert their field staff to the upcoming visits to the following locations:

1. LIBERIA: Oxfam and IRC facilitating; CONFIRMED DATES: 28 July to 4 August.

2. SUDAN: Concern Worldwide to facilitate (dates to be confirmed, but around mid-August)

3. AFGHANISTAN: CARE to facilitate (exact dates to be confirmed, but likely week of 18 August)

4. HAITI: IFRC to facilitate (dates to be confirmed, but around early September)

As the dates become confirmed for the last three field visits, the ICVA Secretariat will send updates so that you can inform your field staff so that they may meet with Lewis or Sean. We would hope that your field staff could get in touch with the facilitating agencies to ensure that they get a chance to meet with Lewis or Sean.

THE “DUTCH PROJECT’

You may have heard of a project undertaken by a group of Dutch NGOs that are organising an international conference in The Hague in September to bring together the signatories of the Code. The Conference aims to provide participants with practical ideas and tools to implement, monitor, and promote the Code and to identify follow-up action through NGO collaborative efforts. The Dutch project is undertaking research at the headquarters’ level to look at how NGOs have implemented the Code, whereas the ICVA/SCHR project will focus more on the practical application and implementation of the Code by agencies on the ground. There are ongoing discussions between the two projects to ensure complementarity and to avoid overlap. Some of the initial findings of the field visits may also be shared at the international conference.

We will write to you again shortly when the dates of the other field visits are confirmed. The project document will be posted shortly on the ICVA website (members only) for your reference.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation with, and participation in, the field studies and headquarters discussions.

With best regards,
ICVA Secretariat.

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