Tell us about the British Red Cross’s International work
The way the British Red Cross works internationally depends on the type of crisis. When there is a major crisis – such as the current Ebola crisis or in the case of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines – we work with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to provide life-saving support. We identify and deploy international experts skilled in areas required in the response, coordinate the supply of appropriate relief items so that they reach those most in need, and secure funding to ensure that the Movement can respond quickly and at scale.
In certain instances, the British Red Cross establishes its own programmes helping communities recover from disasters with livelihoods and other targeted support.
The British Red Cross also provides longer term support to build the resilience of vulnerable communities around the world. The focus for this work is on countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where the needs are greatest. Our work is undertaken through partners who we support to provide effective services to vulnerable communities.
How does the British Red Cross provide this humanitarian assistance internationally?
The British Red Cross draws on the unique strengths of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to provide assistance. With a national society in almost every country in the world and over 13 million volunteers, we can mobilise a global network to provide locally-relevant support. We work with over 20 National Society partners in different countries providing capacity building and technical support so that they can provide effective services in their countries.
As an active and influential member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the British Red Cross uses its skills, capacities and resources to ensure that the Movement maximises its global network potential and performs to the highest standard. In all our work, we apply seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement ensuring neutral and impartial humanitarian action.
Tell us why you are restructuring the British Red Cross International Division
This is an exciting time at the British Red Cross. We have recently developed a new strategy which will underpin our work until 2020. This takes account of both increasing humanitarian needs and the enhanced national capacity that exists in many countries to respond.
The two central pillars of our strategy is to provide life-saving support and rapid response to crises, while also building the resilience of communities to prepare for, recover and rebuild their lives. To achieve this, we will help ensure strong and effective partner National Societies that can work as first responders to crises and build local resilience. We will also support effective and efficient work within the Movement so that the world’s largest humanitarian network is having the greatest possible impact on the lives of beneficiaries.
In parallel with the development of the strategy, we have looked at the structure of the International Division. We have developed an integrated programme and partnerships team to deliver high quality programmes through the Movement and our National Society partners, as well as a technical advisory team, enabling us to deliver expert advice to our own programmes and more broadly to the Movement. We are decentralising our support so that we understand better the needs on the ground and have stronger relationships with local partners.
What will the new structure look like?
We recognise that developing local capacity is the key to ensuring that support to vulnerable communities can be sustained. As such, we have created four teams that will lead our programmes and partnerships work in the regions on which we are focusing. These teams will be led by head of regions who will lead a team of international and local staff to build our support to communities in these regions through our exciting partnerships. We have a global emergencies team, to enable us to respond quickly and effectively through the Movement structures to emergencies that happen in countries outside of our programmatic/partnership focussed countries.
Alongside the regionally focused teams, we have created teams providing particular technical expertise within critical areas such as logistics, food security, water, resilience, and shelter. These teams will feed their technical expertise into the regional teams.
The new structure will ensure we have both the regional and technical expertise to help our local Red Cross/Red Crescent national society partners to build the skills, systems and structures they need to continue working alongside these communities. Our national partners, with their local knowledge and understanding, will ensure that people facing disasters and crises get the support they need not only today, but in the years to come.
What kind of people are you looking for in your new structure?
We are looking for people with a strong understanding of humanitarian and development work across a range of levels and specialisms (including technical areas such as food security, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion), as well as those with a geographic area of knowledge such as East and Southern Africa). Of highest importance is that our people understand effective partnership working and are able to work with and through our local national society partners. This requires skills in influencing, relationship building and a focus on impact and outcomes.
We want people with vision and innovation, who can identify opportunities for the British Red Cross to have an even greater impact on the lives of vulnerable people. We are very committed to team working. We need people who can work collaboratively with teams focusing on technical support, policy development and accountability, as well as teams managing support to other regions. For our leadership and management roles, we want people with proven experience of managing and developing teams, including teams located overseas.
Why should somebody come and work for the International Division of the British Red Cross?
It’s a fantastic time to join us as you’ll have the opportunity to play a part in building and shaping our new teams and ways of working.
As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, we are part of the world’s largest independent humanitarian network. Working with highly committed colleagues through our partners, you’ll have a truly global reach with the resources to make a difference.
The work is never the same and always challenging. It matters. If you’re interested in addressing the humanitarian challenges of tomorrow, get in touch.
How do I find out about what opportunities exist?
Our vacancies tend to be advertised externally, though current vacancies are always included on our careers site which can be found at www.redcross.org.uk.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by the British Red Cross
