Annual report

Strategic Priorities
| Values, power and inclusion 
129

---

impacts on Ukrainians, especially women and 
children who are today at high risk of abuse, 
trafficking and violence.
Young people in the Middle East and North 
Africa face challenges that affect their resilience 
and ability to live dignified lives. The region has 
the highest rate of youth unemployment in the 
world, and ten of the 17 countries are classified 
as having low or medium youth development 
(Youth development index).
Our approach
The IFRC’s work in values, power and inclusion is 
based on building, and maintaining trust, within 
and between communities.
The programmes and services are designed to 
address persistent inequalities and tackle the 
underlying causes that can result in violence, 
discrimination, and exclusion. This includes work 
to address the lack of access to education that 
affects many young – and not so young – people’s 
lives, and work to create learning opportunities 
that promote humanitarian values.
Protection, gender and inclusion is a priority 
for the IFRC, with an approach that focuses on 
the causes, risks and consequences of violence, 
discrimination and exclusion before, during 
and after disasters and crises. Safeguarding is 
equally important for the same reasons.
The IFRC understands that at-risk people can 
have very different experiences during a crisis, 
depending on factors such as their age, sex, gen-
der identity, physical ability, race, socio-economic 
status, access to education, or nationality. Any 
one of these factors – or any combination of 
them – can affect how well an individual with-
stands a crisis and recovers from it.
Disasters and crises can worsen existing ine-
qualities, leading to greater discrimination and 
exclusion, and increase the risks of sexual and 
gender-based violence (SGBV), violence against 
children, and trafficking in human beings during 
and after emergencies.
The IFRC works with National Societies to embed 
protection, gender and inclusion practices, and 
safeguarding, in all programming related to 
supporting at-risk people. This includes placing 
protection, gender and inclusion experts at a 
National Society’s disposal during emergencies, 
with special emphasis on safeguarding and 
child protection.
The needs of children and young people in crisis 
are also addressed by comprehensive Red Cross 
and Red Crescent educational programmes 
through the Education Plus Initiative.
Other non-formal educational opportunities 
include the successful Youth as Agents of 
Behavioural Change (YABC) programme, Football 
for Development, and the Limitless initiative run 
by IFRC’s Solferino Academy, which supports 
the network in innovation and collaborative 
problem-solving. In addition, the IFRC is working 
to strengthen the network’s collective capacities 
in providing education in emergencies.
This work is underpinned by a commitment to 
community engagement and accountability, a 
process that recognizes and values community 
members as equal partners in all Red Cross and 
Red Crescent activities.
This ensures that people’s opinions are heard 
and used to design and guide IFRC work – and 
it holds the IFRC directly accountable to com-
munities, with clear and actionable complaints 
mechanisms and opportunities for two-way 
communication.