Annual report

1. 
Improve preparedness, early detection and 
response to contain cholera. 
2. 
Ensuring WASH services are integrated 
in Red Cross and Red Crescent long term 
health programming. 
3. 
Providing coordinated technical support 
to National Societies implementing WASH 
activities. 
National Societies are supporting in delivering 
water, sanitation and hygiene services through 
targeted support and collaboration with various 
normative bodies such as WHO, US CDC and 
academia to develop and disseminate opera-
tional guidance in the form of toolkits, training 
(both in person and virtually), webinars, and 
implementation guidelines.
Throughout, knowledge is shared and examples 
of better practices are gathered and dissemi-
nated across the IFRC network. Work is also done 
to support peer to peer learning by sponsoring 
exchange visits between National Societies.
In the face of widespread cholera and the effects 
of climate change and in line with localization and 
Green Response, the IFRC and member National 
Societies have developed the Water Supply and 
Rehabilitation and Household Water Treatment 
and Storage Emergency Response Units. 
These Emergency Response Units, which consist 
of small teams that support National Societies 
to set up WASH programming immediately after 
disasters and crises, are a radical departure from 
traditional Emergency Response Units which rely 
on airlifting equipment into disaster zones.
46
Annual Report 
2022

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The Water Supply and Rehabilitation approach 
was deployed in response flooding in Pakistan in 
2022. Work is now underway to ensure a National 
Society from the Global South holds these mod-
ules, a first for the Emergency Response Unit 
system in any sector.
Global Relations, Humanitarian 
Diplomacy and Digitalization
The IFRC’s work in this area is comprised of 
Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization, 
Communications and Digital Transformation. The 
global humanitarian diplomacy function and the 
IFRC Representation Offices located in Brussels, 
Addis Ababa and Dubai also report to the Under 
Secretary General responsible for this division. 
Vision, leadership and strategic direction for 
the work of the IFRC are provided to expand, 
strengthen and maintain strategic partnerships 
and engage in humanitarian diplomacy and 
resource mobilization.
It ensures that key messages of the IFRC, 
including the protection of human dignity, the 
articulation of the needs of vulnerable commu-
nities, and the primacy of community resilience 
and local actors, remain at the forefront of 
humanitarian debates. It also oversees the pro-
motion of greater understanding and awareness 
of the network through coherent and consistent 
messaging and ensuring standards of excellence 
in both external and internal communications.
Leadership, strategic guidance and advice relat-
ing to resource mobilization are also provided to 
National Societies, including identifying and pur-
suing new opportunities to expand resources 
at global, regional and national levels, as well 
as ensuring the provision of critical informa-
tion and analyses for resource development, 
donor reporting, and planning and budgeting 
processes. It also explores innovative ways of 
collective financing and working with National 
Societies to grow the overall resource base. 
The work also includes the Information 
Technology portfolio, optimizing IT investment 
and maintenance, and overseeing the design 
and roll-out of digitalization initiatives within the 
IFRC and the network.
Guidance and support are also provided to the 
Red Cross European Union Office, the IFRC Office 
of Permanent Representation to the African 
Union and the IFRC Gulf Cluster Office to help 
ensure coherence and alignment of approaches 
and activities with Headquarters.
Strategic Partnerships and
Resource Mobilization 
The IFRC works to build network-wide part-
nerships to strengthen the resource base of 
National Societies, leveraging the potential of the 
network and status of the IFRC. It also works to 
facilitate the mobilization of resources to ensure 
a strong IFRC that is well-positioned to carry out 
its core mandate. 
The focus is on the implementation of resource 
mobilization strategies, and ways to leverage 
existing partnerships and develop new ones for 
the benefit of National Societies. The IFRC works 
with National Societies and their governments, 
public and individual giving, multilaterals and 
financial institutions, private sector partner-
ships, intergovernmental and non-governmental 
organizations, regional groupings, founda-
tions, academic bodies, think-tanks and other 
global entities.
The overarching goal is to amplify the collective 
voice of the Red Cross and Red Crescent at local, 
national, regional, and global levels, and to signif-
icantly grow the financial resources available to 
National Societies and the IFRC. The IFRC works 
with National Societies to maximize emergency 
and thematic funding.
Specialized work is carried out in partnerships 
for resilient communities; National Societies and 
government partnerships; resource develop-
ment; representation and international relations, 
and private sector partnerships.