The perception of the humanitarian development objectives has been articulated more clearly than in the past, and the mechanisms for achieving them have become more elusive. Given the scale and complexity of humanitarian challenges and limited resources; generating the dissemination of knowledge, sharing best practices, exchanging modalities, improving the efficiency, quality, and effectiveness of preparation and response in the humanitarian community by knowledge spillovers have never been more crucial.

The National Society Capacity Exchange and Enhancement Platform Project is an inspiring and exciting initiative that the Turkish Red Crescent is privileged to spearhead with its strong project partners; the British Red Cross, the Bulgarian Red Cross and the Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I firmly believe that this country consortium is willing to leverage capacity development, expand know-how dissemination and set to plant seeds to create immense impacts in both cash and protection modalities.

Cash and Protection are both priority focus areas of the British Red Cross’s international and domestic strategies, with the aim of increasing capacity to deliver cash assistance to people in crisis.  We support the scale up of cash based responses of IFRC, ICRC and National Societies, with a particular focus on social protection to reduce hunger, supporting people on the move and use of cash in response to conflict and other crises. 

An important foundation of our international work is to be a good peer to sister National Societies around the world, and to participate in shared learning based on our services and experiences both in the UK and internationally. The British Red Cross is excited to be participating in this initiative which is a prime example of the work we want to pursue, learning from National Societies across the Movement to further develop our knowledge of Cash and Protection in humanitarian programmes.

The mission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as a whole is to alleviate human suffering wherever it can be found, promoting tolerance and understanding, friendship and peace in the world. With the help of their volunteers and staff, National Societies fulfil this humane mission, guided by the Fundamental Principles of the Movement and the efforts to respond to the needs of the population in their countries and beyond.

The cooperation of four partner National Societies: the Bulgarian Red Cross, the British Red Cross, the Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Turkish Red Crescent Society within the "National Society Capacity Exchange and Enhancement Platform Project "is very fruitful. Cash and Voucher Assistance Program activities and Protection activities that are conducted within our National Societies, which are at the core of our work, get a new dimension through mutual exchange of experiences, knowledge, practices and methods of work and planning.

Within this project, we are all working together to fulfil the humane mission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as to promote cooperation between National Societies. Since the challenges we face are quite similar, they also represent the thread that brings us together. At a time when different disasters are happening, it is imperative that the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies immediately provide assistance to those in need of help and ensure the protection of human dignity.

At the very beginning of the 2020 decade the world finds itself in a dynamic and controversial political context with regard to the New pact on Migration and Asylum; offshore processing of asylum applications and public attitudes towards migrants & xenophobia.

In many ways, the challenges to humanitarian protection in the last two years were a continuation of those of previous years. The Coronavirus pandemic brought about new complications. In many countries, immigrants have been among the worst hit by the virus and the accompanying disruptions to work, education, and social services. Furthermore, migrant workers have generally been at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus not having access to a qualitative treatment and support.

In this context more than ever it is needed to strengthen solidarity and international cooperation to address vulnerabilities of refugees and migrants, as well as to foster their social inclusion. It is an ideal opportunity for the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies to show that they act as one big family leaded by empathy to human suffering and united by the principles of humanity and impartiality.

Since 2003, a core principle of the Bulgarian Red Cross has been to work for empowerment of the refugee and migrant communities and to promote diversity and tolerance in the Bulgarian society. Community engagement and accountability, case management and emergency response are among the  BRC’s priorities in the field of asylum and migration.

Based on this, the Bulgarian Red Cross welcomes the opportunity to be a partner in the “National Society Capacity Exchange and Enhancement Platform” Project implemented with the support of the ERASMUS Plus Programme.

Despite the challenging circumstances nowadays we strongly believe that this project will manage to achieve its goals and contribute to enhanced capacity not only among the four participating NS, but also at the level of the IFRCRC family.