A doctor from the Chinese Red Cross Overseas Aid Medical Team checks the health condition of a child at a hospital in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar on September 24. The team was running a medical aid program to screen local children for congenital heart defects. Tao Lan/China Daily
From providing emergency relief and medical assistance in disaster- and conflict-affected areas to promoting international dialogue on humanitarian principles, the Chinese Red Cross Society has deepened international cooperation in the past five years and further strengthened foreign aid mechanisms. and plans to engage in various activities. International emergency rescue operations.
In a letter to the RCSC’s 12th General Assembly, which opened in Beijing on Wednesday, President Xi Jinping called on the organization to focus on high-quality development and further improve its capacity to provide humanitarian services.
Xi, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the RCSC serves as a bridge and link between the Party, government and people in the humanitarian field.
He urged the organization to deepen its reform and innovation, strengthen its credibility, improve its humanitarian service capacity, strengthen national modernization efforts, and contribute to the advancement of human peace and progress. He called on them to actively participate and support humanitarian causes.
President Xi stressed that party committees and governments at various levels need to strengthen their leadership and support for Red Cross activities to foster a better environment for Red Cross organizations to fulfill their obligations.
The Chinese Red Cross Society was founded in 1904 and currently has 17 million members and 2.93 million volunteers.
Over the past five years, the organization has provided emergency humanitarian assistance to 16 countries in Asia, 10 countries in Europe, 13 countries in Africa, and five countries in the Americas and Oceania to help fight the epidemic, according to a report submitted to the General Assembly. has been provided. Ends on Thursday.
RCSC has also sent medical professionals to fight infectious diseases in Iran, Iraq and Italy, and donated 1.6 million vaccine doses to 12 countries, including Lebanon, Ethiopia and Cambodia.
It provided $10.7 million worth of emergency humanitarian assistance to 54 countries, sending material aid to areas affected by the 2023 Turkiye-Syria earthquake, the Ukraine crisis, and other major disasters and conflicts.
The RCSC has established funds and initiatives targeted at countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as some developing countries. For example, a humanitarian aid program for critically ill children benefited 309 young people with congenital heart defects in Afghanistan and Mongolia.
As one of the vice-chairs of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 2019 to 2022, China also participated in the important decision-making processes of the IFRC and the governance of the global Red Cross movement.
The RCSC has organized a number of forums and events aimed at facilitating the international communication of humanitarian efforts.
The organization’s report to the General Assembly states that the RCSC will take a number of steps to strengthen cooperation with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in the future.
The system for providing humanitarian assistance abroad will be improved and practical cooperation with Red Cross societies in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative will be strengthened, the report stressed.
He added that the RCSC will strive to participate in international emergency rescue operations through multilateral channels and support the involvement of China’s regional Red Cross societies in global cooperation projects.
At the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Vice Premier Liu Guozhong called on the RCSC to strengthen its core capabilities in providing humanitarian assistance and emergency relief and care, as well as promoting blood, bone marrow and organ donations.
Liu, who is also a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said it is important for the RCSC to help build a tighter safety net to ensure basic livelihoods while strengthening international cooperation. Ta.
The organization says it currently has about 1,000 emergency teams of more than 100,000 members specializing in search and rescue, medical care, water supply and public health. It also manages a stockpile of 1,100 emergency supplies and maintains a total inventory of more than 2 million regular supplies.
Over the past five years, RCSC has trained more than 15 million people in first aid and deployed 65,000 units in schools, communities, public transport stops and other public facilities to promote first aid skills among the public. An automated external defibrillator was installed.
Thanks to continued efforts to spread awareness about organ donation, the number of registered donors has exceeded 6.89 million and 169,000 organ transplants have been carried out, including 54,000 posthumous donors.
