The International Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. The Federation is the world's largest humanitarian organization, and its millions of volunteers are active in over 180 countries. All international assistance to support vulnerable communities seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, according to the SPHERE Project. This document reflects a range of programmes and activities to be implemented in 2005, and the related funding requirements. These are based upon the broader, multi-year framework of the Federation's Project Planning Process (PPP). The PPP products are either available through hyperlinks in the text 1, or can be requested through the respective regional department. For further information concerning programmes or operations in this or other countries or regions, please also access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org
The Americas
Latin America and the Caribbean continue to face many challenges, particularly widespread poverty, inequality, migration, urbanization, social unrest and vulnerability to natural disasters. The Federation's Appeal objectives for the Americas for 2005 focus on the core programme areas of health, disaster management, humanitarian principles and values and on organizational development. These objectives are in harmony with the Millennium Development Goals seeking to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger", to "promote gender equality and empower women" and in the area of health aiming to "reduce child mortality" to "improve maternal health" and to "combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases".
Over the last decade, the frequency of natural and man-made disasters has increased in the Americas and although the number of victims has decreased significantly, the number of those affected continues to rise steadily. The 2004 hurricane season in the Caribbean has proved to be one of the most deadly. Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne have caused catastrophic levels of damage to infrastructure, resulting in the loss of homes and livelihood for hundreds of thousands of people, posing threats of food insecurity and raising levels of vulnerability. In the Americas an integral disaster management system continues to be developed in order to ensure effective response to disasters through global mechanisms, the Pan American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU) and regional resources. A key element of this system are the Red Cross National Societies which, through their branch network, are striving to reach vulnerable communities to help prepare them in the event of disaster, to avoid loss of life and livelihood, and to mitigate the potential effects of common hazards. A major focus of the Appeals is working together with communities in order to strengthen them in the face of potential disasters.
Socio-economic trends are fuelling the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Americas, particularly in the Caribbean where the Red Cross is playing a key role in raising awareness and placing the fight against the disease at the top of humanitarian agendas. Uneven distribution of wealth and marginalization of ethnic minorities increase levels of poverty in certain layers of the population, which has a direct impact on access to health services. In line with the initiative towards "scaling up in health", Red Cross Societies are working to enhance capacities of their health departments in order to reach those in need and increase equity in health. In addition, Red Cross anti-stigma campaigns and advocacy efforts speak out against discrimination and marginalization, particularly associated with HIV/AIDS related stigma. Innovative projects seek to reduce youth violence and gender discrimination as well as to reach ethnic minorities.
The Red Cross in Latin America and the Caribbean is evolving in order to meet the humanitarian challenges and to better target its work. A major focus on networking and peer support aims to promote best practices and to enhance organizational learning. The Communications Forum, promoting capacity in communications, is an example of such a successful initiative together with the regional health networks, the youth network and the organizational development practitioners' networks. The Inter American Regional Conference has developed a Plan of Action in order to reflect the undertakings of the Santiago de Chile Commitment of April 2003. The Plan of Action reiterates the priorities laid down in Strategy 2010. It also stresses the need for achieving strategic alliances with partner organizations and for National Societies to engage in change processes and outlines the significance for the Americas of the concept of integrated community programmes which seek to reach vulnerable communities through strengthened branch networks and enhanced mobilization of volunteers. Implementation of the plan of action will be monitored by the National Societies in the Americas through newly-developed web-based evaluation tools.
The Federation Secretariat's permanent structure in support of the National Societies in the Americas is based on two Regional Delegations: the Panama Regional Delegation, with a Sub Regional Office in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and the Lima Regional Delegation, with a Sub Regional Office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Pan American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU) ensures technical support and coordination of disaster management in the entire region. Support to finance and reporting is ensured by the respective regional units based in Panama. There is a fully-fledged Federation Delegation in Haiti and Federation representatives are present in Colombia and Guatemala.