IARC holds the first Training Session for the Chinese Red Cross Youth Staff
On the morning of October 31, 2019, the opening ceremony of the first Training Session for the Chinese Red Cross Youth Staff was held in the lecture hall on Tiancizhuang Campus of Soochow University. The training session was sponsored by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) and organized by the International Academy of Red Cross & Red Crescent (IARC).
Among those present at the ceremony was Chen Zhu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), president of the RCSC and vice president of the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Sheng Yunan from Rongfeng Holding Group Co., Ltd (co-founder of the IARC), Zheng Gongcheng, member of the Standing Committee of the NPC, vice chairman of the Central Committee of China Democratic League and professor of Renmin University of China, Yu Fulong, vice president of the RCSC, Wang Rupeng, former vice president of the RCSC, Gwendolyn Tan Pang, director of the East Asia Representative Office of the IFRC, Xiong Sidong, president of Soochow University, and Yang Yixin, vice president of Soochow University and executive dean of the IARC. Over 180 participants attended the event, including 70-plus Chinese Red Cross youth staff, members of the IARC advisory committee, cadres of the RCSC Suzhou Branch and students of Soochow University. The ceremony was presided over by Sun Shuopeng, member of the Party Leadership Group and vice president of the RCSC.
Xiong Sidong delivered a welcome speech. He pointed out that the International Academy of Red Cross & Red Crescent (IARC), jointly founded by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), the Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) and Soochow University, is the first Red Cross academy in the world. Its establishment has been a concrete action to implement the Belt and Road Initiative and an important measure to facilitate the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Soochow University is making great efforts to support the development of the IARC which offers programs for advanced study in the humanitarian field that cover topics including sociology, international law, ethics and nursing. It is actively preparing to establish the Institute on Chinese Red Cross Movement and the “Belt and Road” International Exchanges and Cooperation Research Center. It is expected to be developed into a Red Cross theoretical innovation center, a think tank for the development of the Chinese humanitarian cause, and a platform for academic exchanges and international cooperation in the humanitarian field.
Xiong Sidong expressed hope that the relevant parties will be committed to co-building a humanitarian educational system shared by all and make concerted efforts to build the IARC into an internationally influential base for talent cultivation in the humanitarian field, research on the Red Cross movement and academic exchanges of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as soon as possible, so as to contribute more wisdom and strength to advancing the Red Cross cause with Chinese characteristics and promoting the development of the international humanitarian causes.
At the opening ceremony, Chen Zhu presented certificates to the first batch of the academy’s co-founders.
Sheng Yunan is a descendant of Sheng Xuanhuai who founded the Red Cross Society of China and served as its first president more than 100 years ago. The 96- year-old made a special trip from Shanghai to Suzhou to receive the IARC co-founder certificate on behalf of Rongfeng Holding Group Co., Ltd. Mr. Sheng said that the founding of the RCSC was a momentous step to human civilization and the establishment of the IARC as the first Red Cross academy in the world is also no less than a pioneering undertaking. It is worth mentioning that, in order to congratulate the IARC on opening its first training session, Mr. Sheng wrote the speech himself and his manuscript will be treasured at the academy.
The opening ceremony witnessed the establishment of the IARC advisory committee and Chen Zhu presented letters of appointment to the first batch of its members. Xiong Sidong presented a letter of appointment to Wang Rupeng, dean of the academy. Zheng Gongcheng, professor of Renmin University of China, Chen Shaochang, founder of the Guangdong Chen Shaochang Charity Foundation, and Zhang Qi from the RCSC Hunan Branch delivered speeches at the ceremony as representatives of the advisory committee, co-founders and trainees respectively.
After the opening ceremony, Chen Zhu gave trainees the first lecture entitled “Some Thoughts on the Work of the Red Cross Society of China” in English. He introduced the history of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Red Cross Society of China and reviewed the development of the Chinese Red Cross Movement in recent years. He also analyzed the prospect of the international Red Cross movement and the new opportunities, missions and challenges facing the RCSC, and presented a blueprint for the development of the Red Cross cause with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
Chen pointed out that the current international system and order is going through profound adjustment. Peace and development are still the themes of the times, but regional conflicts and local wars continue. In the world of today, global financial crises, conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, terrorism and refugee crises are intertwined and have created unprecedented challenges for humanitarian work. The Red Cross organizations are playing a more prominent role in providing humanitarian relief and promoting world peace. The RCSC, assisting the Party and the government in humanitarian work and serving as an important channel for non-governmental diplomacy, should take the opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen the humanitarian cooperation between China and the Belt and Road countries, and promote the development of the international humanitarian causes.
Chen Zhu emphasized that the RCSC must improve the humanitarian system and the quality of assistance provided. He urged it to promote the dissemination of the knowledge of the Red Cross movement and enhance its social mobilization capabilities, stressing the need to increase transparency and credibility, improve organizational management and carry out its duties in accordance with the law. The RCSC should serve the overall situation of economic and social development and play its role in protecting people’s life and health and promoting social harmony and progress.
After the opening ceremony, the IARC advisory committee held its first meeting. Sun Shuopeng, vice president of the RCSC, and Zhang Xiaohong, vice president of Soochow University, delivered speeches at the meeting which was presided over by Wang Rupeng, dean of the IARC. Yang Yixin, vice president of Soochow University and executive dean of the IARC, and Liu Xuanguo and Zheng Geng, deputy deans of the IARC, introduced the academy’s plans for discipline development, textbook compilation and enrollment for 2019-2020 respectively. Bai Liang, director of the East Asia Representative Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Gwendolyn Tan Pang, director of the East Asia Representative Office of the IFRC, and more than 10 experts, professors and senior Red Cross workers including Zheng Gongcheng, Wang Zhenyao, Zhu Wenqi, Zhou Qiuguang, Chi Zihua, Liang Chunxiao, Shi Xiandong, Wang Fang, Ma Qiang and Zheng Hong, expressed their opinions and suggestions at the meeting.
The Training Session for the Chinese Red Cross Youth Staff is the first training session opened by the IARC since its establishment. The trainees include the 2 excellent staff members sent by each of the provincial branches of the RCSC and those who participated in the IMPACT training of the IFRC. The 5-day training session offers courses on topics such as the spirit of the 11th meeting of the RCSC, international situation, humanitarian diplomacy, the Red Cross and the Belt and Road Initiative, the development of the Red Cross movement, and humanitarian resource mobilization.