icrc-annual-report-2013

Intervention Battalion instructors in Limbé, Cameroon, withICRC input, deepened their understanding of IHL, and the Mouilanational training school for non-commissioned officers in Gabonexpanded its IHL curriculum.Humanitarian dialogue in northern Cameroon expandsIncreased contact with influential civil society members fosteredmutual understanding of humanitarian principles andraised awareness of the Movement and its activities. In northernCameroon, religious leaders and members of Islamic organizationstook part in a seminar on such topics and a youth forum wasorganized by youth clubs from the Cameroonian National Society.The public grew more familiar with the Movement because ofmedia coverage of its activities, such as the health-in-detentionseminar in Gabon (see People deprived of their freedom); the mediadrew on ICRC publications, press releases and interviews. Around100 members of Cameroon’s largest media organization, and journalistsin Gabon, learnt more about reporting on humanitarianaffairs at National Society/ICRC workshops, where sometimesthey also received first-aid training. National Society disseminationsessions, and events like World Red Cross and Red CrescentDay (8 May), added to the public’s knowledge of the Movement.With ICRC support, the National Societies developed their publiccommunication activities – a radio programme in Cameroon, forinstance – and upgraded their communication skills and materials/equipment.Cameroon and Congo ratify weapon-related treatiesNational Society/ICRC briefings and workshops helped the pertinentministries in Cameroon, Congo and Gabon advance ratificationand implementation of IHL-related treaties: Cameroonratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rightsof the Child and the Biological Weapons Convention; Cameroonand Congo ratified a convention for the control of small armsand light weapons in Central Africa; and Cameroon also adoptedimplementing legislation for the Hague Convention on CulturalProperty. In Congo and Gabon, however, draft bills protecting theemblem remained pending.Ministries attended the debate. Students from the national institutesof public administration in Cameroon and Gabon, and froma penitentiary administration school in Cameroon, attended IHLseminars.RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENTThe region’s National Societies strengthened their capacities inemergency preparedness/response, restoring family links, anddisseminating/promoting IHL with financial/material ICRC supportand training (see above).Following a 2012 regional workshop in Brazzaville aimed at harmonizingfirst-aid approaches, 15 first-aid instructors from theCameroon Red Cross Society honed their skills at a train-thetrainerworkshop, and teams from the Angola Red Cross andthe Gabonese Red Cross Society upgraded their skills at trainingsessions, which sometimes contained a family-links module.The Gabonese Red Cross organized a regional train-the-trainercourse, which was attended by representatives of various NationalSocieties, who then taught their peers at home. The Congolese RedCross updated its first-aid manual, while 40 volunteers refreshedtheir emergency response and first-aid skills, applying the SaferAccess Framework. The National Societies received first-aidequipment and, in Sao Tome and Principe, an ambulance.Owing to internal constraints, a regional workshop on activitiesrelated to economic security did not take place.The Congolese Red Cross strengthened its internal managementand took over the administration of its finances. The GaboneseRed Cross elected the members of its governing board.Movement components met regularly – sometimes in third countries– to coordinate their activities.The Cameroonian Justice Ministry tapped into ICRC expertise forthe revision of a draft national criminal code to be submitted to theNational Assembly.Angolan and Congolese government officials discussed domesticIHL implementation and issues linked to the use of anti-personnelmines at workshops abroad (see African Union and Pretoria).Congolese students test their knowledge of IHL at debateSelected universities and judicial bodies such as the Supreme Courtin Equatorial Guinea stimulated interest in IHL and in its academicstudy, helped by ICRC expertise and IHL resources gearedto their needs, including updated publications for their librariesand an e-learning platform. Students and teachers used the delegation’sIHL documentation centre for study/research purposes.Students and lecturers tightened their grasp of IHL at ICRCsupportedevents. Although no moot court competitions tookplace, in Congo, around 150 students attended a conference heldat one university, and 53 students tested each other’s knowledgeof IHL at a debate organized by an IHL club directed by theNational School of Administration and Magistracy. Officials fromthe Defence, Humanitarian Action, Interior, Justice and YouthYAOUNDÉ (REGIONAL) | 265