Given the importance of the issue of staff security, it was decided to release a joint press statement stressing the main concerns. Though the working definitions of prevention are different for each organization, the work we carry out in this area is complementary. Probably the most important task is the establishment of strategic partnerships and broader constituencies, some of which will be traditional but others quite new to our organizations. The ethical and legal issues surrounding prevention, dissemination and respect for humanitarian and refugee law and principles need to be further discussed, including an in-depth exchange of views on preventive strategies. A follow-up meeting on these specific issues will be convened between our two legal divisions in the fall.
Cooperation involves staff at all levels of both organizations.
We strongly encourage you to reinforce direct contact with your counterparts as a step towards more comprehensive and closer collaboration. As a new century approaches, we must reinforce efforts to assure adherence to humanitarian principles and values. One step is through a more prominent interaction in our respective governing bodies and international conferences. At the same time, ICRC will be undertaking the necessary demarches to provide the High Commissioner with a similar opportunity during the next International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, scheduled to take place in Geneva in November 1999. We hereby make a personal pledge to support this effort in every possible way.