The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) has been present here in Ethiopia for more than forty years with a mandate to protect and assist the most vulnerable people affected by armed conflicts and violence. To have a glimpse at the overall journey of the ICRC and its current progress, The Ethiopian Herald had time with Julien Lerisson ICRC Head Delegation in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Herald: Can we start with what ICRC does and also walk through some historical backgrounds?
Julien: The ICRC coordinates the Red Cross and Red Cross societies in times of war, armed conflicts and other situations of violence. Given the mandate by the international community following World War II, we are also the guardian of international humanitarian law of war. As a movement the ICRC, the International Federation of the Red Cross Crescent and national societies conduct humanitarian activities in partnership.
The federation represents the national societies in international forums and coordinate activities in times of natural disaster. We adopt or setup, an activity that counts in to the situation in the country we are operating.
In Ethiopia, during the military regime, after its fall, during the war with Eritrea and other situations, we adopted or setup in response mostly to the need of the people affected.
Therefore, our tasks are trying to protect and assist the people affected by the consequences of the conflicts, mostly the civilian population. We have three main pillars, reestablishment of family links when people are separated by wars and conflicts.
We try to put them in contacts and maintain the contact also between prisoners and their families, people who cross borders, refugees etc. Second activity is detention. Historically we visit prisoners of war. But now we visit many detainees of all types around the world.
Third activity is protection of civilian populations. It is not physical protection but protection by the law. We operate on protection of civilian population as neutral and independent party. We monitor the fighting, then we go back to fighting parties. We tell them about the situation, to investigate, to discuss and potentially improve.
All these are done through confidential and bilateral dialogues. We have a second leg of protection, which is assistance, providing health care, nonfood items including shelter etc for people affected by conflicts.
Herald: What are the challenges so far in the countries the ICRC has been engaged in?
Jullien: There are several constraints. One of them is the difficulty, quite often, to get access to the people. It is dangerous, there are security issues. If there is a need to talk to military commanders, generally they are not willing to let people go in their operational areas because of security issues. That is why we have our own specific security procedures. But that is also why we are neutral and independent to explain how we work and what we do and we need to go and monitor because it is our mandate. Mostly the people would flee their area and go to different directions, which makes it not always possible to reach them and help them.
Third constraint might be state interference. Sometimes they could be willing for you to see or not to see some situations. But we stick to our principles of neutrality, independence and impartiality. We are not here to take side. We are independent from state agenda, donors, race, religion, ethnic group and whatever relations. We address the people according to their needs. We always operate with the consent of the state. You will not see the ICRC doing cross border jobs without the consent of the two neighboring states.
Herald: What makes Ethiopia different from the ICRC’s experience?
Jullien: One very interesting thing about Ethiopia is that first it is one of the few countries who had an armed conflict with one of the neighboring countries until very recently. You rarely see two states fighting each other directly. There could be rebel groups or opposition groups inside the territory of the state but you rarely see two state armies fighting each other. That is something peculiar to Ethiopia in the year 2000 and the following consequences.
The second thing that makes Ethiopia different is its federalism in nature. In order to address in Federal and regional levels, you need to link with several layers of authorities. Even if you have a green light from the federal level, you also need to engage at different levels. This makes the richness and wealth of Ethiopia but it could also be a constraint when you want to operate everywhere because you do not have a single authority.
Herald: Tell us about the major achievements in Ethiopia and beneficiaries.
Jullien: One of the most important things is that we have been supporting authorities in detention for the past thirty years with different level of success. We have managed to keep the detainees at the center of their response to ensure to some level a certain respect for human dignity, for human rights. It is quite often a forgotten area. I think this could be the task that the ICRC could be proud of.
Second is what we call physical rehabilitation. It is people with disabilities, who are also very vulnerable. And in a country that is on the path of development, even though it is different now, there have been some neglected areas. We work with the authorities from federal to state levels to raise attention to this particular vulnerable group and ensure that some services are given.
We brought a technology that is the most affordable and quality wise good to support people with physical rehabilitation services. The last one that the ICRC can consider as an achievement is that the close partnership we maintained with the authorities in a transparent, confidential and bilateral dialogue but we could raise issues.
For Example, we work quite actively in the Somali Regional State but we were kicked out of the state back in 2007 for various reasons. But then we worked intensively, bilaterally, confidentially with resilient and now we are invited back to the State with our capacity to resume our operation. This is a good achievement which shows the resilience and the good dialogue we can have at all level.
Herald: What approaches does the ICRC use when administrations change
Jullien: We always engage with state authorities. The Ethiopian state is sovereign and we are guests here. Therefore we are willing to respect them and conduct constructive bilateral dialogue with them.
One thing that the ICRC truly believes in is communication. As long as you communicate, you can agree to disagree but you can also raise issue based on the fact that is only our concern. We do not go to the media and tell what we found in prison. I will not tell you the discussion I have had with the military because it is a confidential and bilateral between us .We believe it is useful because our interest is the victim. Quite often if you speak loud or denounce, you might be kicked out. We do not want to be kicked out because we want to keep the interest of the victim always at the core of our work. I am not saying denouncing is not good. It is complementary. We have been working for the past 150 years and our way is always to engage and respect the [countries].
I would conclude with neutrality, we do not take side, sometime we are accused of taking sides, but we discuss confidentially, we explain and we really strive to maintain neutrality and independence. We do not receive money from one government with an agenda. We assist the people in need no matter if they are the majority or minority. It is the need that drives the action. If there is a village in a very bad situation and 200 people in need, female headed households, people with disabilities and elders are more vulnerable, which makes them our priority focus. It does not mean the other do not need the support and the assistance.
Herald: How is the ICRC intervening in current humanitarian situations in Ethiopia?
Jullien: We recently launched what we call a budget extension, trying to request more money from our donors because of the needs of the internally displaced people. There is a need for us to enlarge our operation. We work primarily with the Ethiopian Red Cross. They have the biggest network of volunteers of humanitarian workers on the ground. We are here to support them. Ethiopia at the end of last year had three million people displaced and a bit less than one million refugees. It is a lot of work. We cannot assist and support all of them alone so, we are working with other partners, primarily the Ethiopian Red Cross, UN agencies and the Government.
Herald: How many people in need did you reach so far?
Jullien: Roughly speaking it depends how you count but it is millions. When you rehabilitate a water pump it benefits an entire community. We have distributed medicines, tens of thousands none food items, what we call essential household items kits, such as mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, etc. To date, we have given 10,000 of those kits, one per family and approximately 50000 people have received assistance just of this type. But we also give seeds and tools because some people are returning to their places, so we support them to resume their livelihood and to be able to plant again. Some livestock vaccination campaign and other activities of assistance are given.
Herald: How do you observe the current reform in Ethiopia, in terms of human rights for instance?
Jullien: As I told you I cannot disclose what we see in prisons and how is the situation. What we can say is that the situation has definitely improved. The release of all former political prisoners last year and the change of set up really helped in prisons. But it does not mean everything is perfect. The reform is going on bearing fruit step and the right direction. Our aim is really to engage with the authorities, to listen to them and to share concerns and to find a way forward for the benefits of the Ethiopian people.
The Ethiopian Herald June 30, 2019
BY HENOK TIBEBU
