Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Red Cross, has just completed a week-long visit to Luxembourg, during which he explored the Grand Duchy's support for the organisation.
Chapagain, who was in the Grand Duchy for the first time, spent a week working with the Luxembourg Red Cross to find ways of further expanding and improving cooperation in the future. For that reason, he also met with Franz Fayot, the Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs.
An important issue of the latter meeting was the emergency fund that the Red Cross can use in case of a humanitarian disaster, one of the many areas where Luxembourg is giving direct support to the organisation. Chapagain commented: "Luxembourg has always supported this fund. Another issue that we addressed was digitalisation. I was surprised how advanced Luxembourg already is in that area. Over the coming months, we want to evaluate how Luxembourg can assist the Red Cross with this know-how."
The secretary general further noted that the Red Cross is currently facing several crises, including the war in Ukraine, famines in Africa, as well as precarious situations in Afghanistan, Syria, and Sudan.
However, the organisation is most preoccupied by the climate crisis, said Chapagain: "The reason we see it as our main priority is that climate change impacts all aspects of human life. The climate crisis has an impact on food, on health, on drinking water. A lack of resources often engenders conflicts. And that is why the climate crisis is the one problem with the greatest consequences for people and the planet."
Chapagain noted that changing climate is also a trigger for the refugee crisis, which has been an issue preoccupying the Red Cross for several years.
