Annual report

Annual Overview 
| About the IFRC 
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To this end, the IFRC provides specialized tech-
nical advice and guidance; coordinates between 
teams on mainstreaming PGI, and to ensure 
appropriate narratives and accountability in our 
advocacy and partnerships. The unit works as 
a global team, with regional and delegation PGI 
coordinators as central members of that team, 
in all aspects of the work. Policy development 
is supported, as are strategic advancements, 
institutional knowledge building and learning, 
capacity building of National Societies, stronger 
and more effective coordination on PGI, appro-
priate operational capacities; systems, and 
procedures, core competencies for all staff and 
volunteers, meaningful advocacy and diplomacy, 
strong partnerships, standardized tools and 
consistency in quality across the network.
In 2022, the first IFRC Policy for Protection, 
Gender and Inclusion was adopted at the 
General Assembly. And, to ensure consistency, 
alignment and operationalization of this policy, 
the IFRC provided an Operational Framework 
for PGI; the Organizational Assessment Toolkit 
for PGI and the Safeguarding Self-Assessment 
Framework, supporting National Societies in 
their efforts to ensure safe and inclusive organi-
zations, and stronger capacities. 
Technical support, coordination and strategic 
guidance was provided to all major emergency 
response operations throughout the year, 
including through deployment of expert per-
sonnel through the global PGI roster. The work 
also enhanced accountability to IFRC donors 
and partners by developing a better defined 
and quality-assured system for meaningful 
planning, monitoring and reporting on PGI and 
Safeguarding for the membership.
Volunteer Youth and Education Development 
Work in this area places renewed emphasis on 
mobilizing volunteers and engaging young peo-
ple through educational outreach. 
This reaffirms the Red Cross and Red Crescent’s 
core focus on volunteers, half of whom are aged 
under 30, as part of a National Society’s devel-
opment. This importance is reflected in 
Strategy 
2030
, where Transformation 2 is “Inspiring and 
mobilizing volunteerism”.
A substantial amount of youth engagement and 
outreach by the IFRC and member National 
Societies is accomplished through educational 
programmes of varying levels of formality that 
are facilitated by volunteers. These programmes 
also raise awareness of the Red Cross and Red 
Crescent, and encourage youth involvement. 
The IFRC acknowledges the intersecting impor-
tance of these three areas and aims to prioritize 
the creation of an appropriate ecosystem within 
and between National Societies for managing, 
retaining, and supporting volunteers. This, in 
turn, generates opportunities for youth engage-
ment through education. 
This initiative builds upon the IFRC’s ongoing 
efforts in developing its education strategy and 
activities, its innovative work on youth-led solu-
tions (exemplified by programmes like Limitless 
and the YABC Football project), and the Volunteer 
Alliance’s work to enhance volunteer manage-
ment and motivation. The primary objective 
is to align the IFRC and National Societies with 
the evolving global trends of volunteering and 
youth mobilization while also accentuating val-
ues and non-formal life skills education in these 
three areas.
The work has a three-fold focus. First, collabora-
tion with National Societies to develop strategies, 
policies, and processes, and provide them with 
engagement tools. This involves working closely 
with National Societies through the Volunteer 
Alliance and the Humanitarian Education 
Network. Secondly, providing secretarial sup-
port to the Youth Commission and ensuring 
coordination between the IFRC and the Youth 
Commission. Thirdly, internal communication 
within the IFRC to mainstream and integrate vol-
unteering mobilization, youth engagement, and 
education outreach. This ensures a cohesive and 
cross-cutting approach to these areas. 
In 2022, collaboration with Solferino Academy 
supported the implementation of the Limitless 
programme, focusing on youth engagement.