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China: ICRC shares humanitarian practices at an emergency management training

Delegates from the International committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) briefed the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) and Blue Sky Rescue Team staffs on humanitarian principles and practices on Nov. 27th and 28th during an emergency management training session at CAG in Beijing. This was part of the three-week International Short-term Program on Emergency Management organized by National Institute of Emergency Management of CAG.

Participants from across the country were briefed on principles and practical ethics in humanitarian actions, ICRC experiences in providing health services and healthcare in humanitarian crisis, as well as how to preserve access to essential urban services during protracted armed conflict, and ICRC practices in economic security program.

"The ICRC's presentations are meant to hammer a few important messages about our principles, the challenge we face, the importance of respecting humanitarian principles, and the respect of the dignity of the victims," said Vincent Raymond Ochilet, Deputy Head of the ICRC Regional Delegation for East Asia. "The ICRC's experience in conflict zones is unique. We hope our experience will inspire the participants' thinking and behavior when engaging on humanitarian action."

"Although we may not have the first-hand field experience, we can share these humanitarian concepts and values during our teaching process," said Wu Tianbo, Associate Professor at the Guangxi Academy of Governance.

"We have strong feelings about humanitarian principles, such as neutrality and impartiality," said Zhang Yong, head of Blue Sky Rescue Team, a non-governmental humanitarian organization. "We have been following these principles. If you are biased, you may experience some contradictions or conflicts in the rescue, which will put our team members in jeopardy."

Cooperation between the ICRC and CAG dated back in 2015 when the two institutions co-organized an international seminar on "Jointly Addressing Challenges to Humanitarian Aid".

Established in 1994, the Chinese Academy of Governance is a ministerial-level institution directly affiliated with the State Council of the People's Republic of China, mandated to train high- and mid-level civil servants and high-level administrators and policy researchers. CAG is also an important think tank that provides consultation services to the Party and government.

The National Institute of Emergency Management directly affiliated to CAG provides consultancy to the government in making rules and regulations on emergency management and is the leading institution conducting relevant academic researches on emergency management.