Australian Red Cross Delegates Program

Executive summary03This report focuses on the overall achievements of the Australian Red CrossDelegates Program in 2011/12; highlighting successes, challenges and progress inachieving the program’s four key objectives as well as continuous programimprovements.Australian Red Cross aid workers have made a significant contribution towards theRed Cross Movement efforts to address the needs of people made vulnerable bydisasters and conflict; the overall goal of the Australian Red Cross DelegatesProgram. This has been achieved through program support for 141 1 short andlong-term missions throughout the 2011/12 financial year. Seventy two (51%) ofthese missions were supported through AusAID funding for the program 2 .Australian Red Cross aid workers were there to help vulnerable communities intimes of crisis. Following requests from Red Cross Movement partners, AustralianRed Cross rapidly mobilised expert and experienced aid workers to assist peopleaffected by disasters and emergencies; following flooding in Fiji, flooding and a ferrydisaster in Papua New Guinea, a cholera outbreak in Chad, drought in Ethiopia,and tropical storm damage in Mozambique.While the majority (74%) of all deployments were in the Asia Pacific region,Australian aid workers continued to support large-scale response and recoveryefforts around the globe; in Haiti and Pakistan, as well as in conflict areas such asAfghanistan, Gaza, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.In addition to direct service provision and relief, response and recovery efforts,delegates worked alongside local counterparts on disaster preparedness and riskreduction programs to strengthen the capacity of national societies to assistvulnerable people in future times of need. Delegates held key senior positions in theAsia Pacific region, supporting Australian Red Cross bilateral programs andstrengthening disaster management programming throughout the Movement.Delegate retention and engagement continued to be a strong focus this year with atotal of 109 delegates receiving professional development training. Thirty-twodelegates attended advanced technical trainings such as Emergency ResponseUnit (ERU) and nutrition in emergencies, and 77 delegates attended professionalskills training through courses on program design, monitoring and evaluation,capacity development across cultures and media training.Australian Red Cross acknowledges the valuable contribution of the AustralianGovernment’s overseas aid program, AusAID, in supporting this program andenabling suitably qualified, experienced and dedicated Australians 3 to participate inits humanitarian programs abroad.1. This number includes both new missions and mission extensions2. AusAID funding has been utilised to fully fund missions and also to contribute funding to missions withadditional funding sources3. The majority of Australian Red Cross delegates hold Australian citizenship or residency, however a smallproportion of Australian Red Cross delegates are not Australian citizens or residents.