The Seville Agreement was an agreement drafted by the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

in 1997 to specify which Red Cross entity would take the lead role in different scenarios. The full name of the agreement is the ''Agreement on the organization of the international activities of the components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement''.

Background

The Seville Agreement was the latest of several "peace treaties" that sought to end

turf war A turf war is a fight over territory or resources, or may refer to: Music * ''Turf Wars'', a 2007 album by the Canadian band Daggermouth * "Turf War", a song on the 2001 album '' Filmtracks 2000'' by American composer Bill Television * '' Turf ...

s between the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

(ICRC) and the

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

(IFRC). Others were drafted in 1969, 1974, and 1989.

Details of the agreement

The Seville Agreement identified the ICRC as lead agency in protecting persons caught in armed conflict or internal strife as well as managing the "immediate effects" of

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s or

natural disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

s that occur during

armed conflict War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...

. The IFRC takes the lead in response to natural disasters or when the capacity of the national societies is overwhelmed. National Societies take the lead when both the ICRC and IFRC concur.David P. Forsythe: ''The Humanitarians: The International Committee of the Red Cross.'' Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2005. pp124-128.

2005 strengthening

At the Council of Delegates in Seoul in 2005, the Seville Agreement was strengthened by the adoption of a set of "supplementary measures". These supplementary measures were designed to enhance the Seville Agreement. The measures include steps to clarify the respective roles of the "lead agency" and the host national society: The latter should maintain its role and mandate at all times and therefore be the primary partner of the lead agency. All other components involved in an international operation should support an increased role for the host national society in the direction and coordination of activities. Moreover, the function of lead agency is defined as a temporary response to a particular emergency. The supplementary measures also mention different steps to promote better knowledge of the agreement within the movement itself. They call on the ICRC and the IFRC to design training modules on the agreement with the involvement of national societies and ask all components to conduct training sessions for staff and volunteers.

References

External links

The Seville Agreement, Official Text
{{Authority control International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Humanitarian aid