Speaking in Budapest on Tuesday, the Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that in the future the world's societies must deal with a host of crisis situations, and international humanitarian organisations must continue to care for the afflicted.

István Mikola addressed the conference Contemporary Challenges for International Humanitarian Law, pointing out that the concept of solidarity and aid was first articulated one hundred and fifty years ago, and ninety-five years ago in Paris representatives from Red Cross societies around the world decided that unified rules had to be formulated to create a single international organisation.

With reference to West African countries stricken by the Ebola epidemic, the Minister of State said that the world has managed this poorly and continues to do so, creating a number of other social crises in the process. The work of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement shows that the world is sensitive to the handling of these disasters, as well as to the fate of people, he added.

In his address, Switzerland’s ambassador to Budapest Jean-Francois Paroz said that humanitarian work is also important now, as are the principles guiding the work of the organisations’ volunteers around the globe. The two organisations have thirty million volunteers worldwide, operating in close cooperation with governments and other civil society organisations within countries.

He said that the world's conflicts today are reminiscent of “total war”, because they make no distinction between combatants and non-combatants, so the civilian population also suffers enormously. Speaking about the legal aspects of humanitarian aid, the ambassador said it is important that countries comply with the relevant existing rules. He emphasised that what we need is compliance with the existing rules and not creating new ones.

Benno Kocher, head of unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in his address that next year they want to increase the existing budget of $1.6 billion by 25%, as many parts of the world are experiencing crisis situations and wars. The organisations’ budgets need to be increased, therefore countries must be persuaded to pay for the work of humanitarian groups.

Director General of the Hungarian Red Cross István Kardos said that the Hungarian organisation’s forty thousand volunteers cooperate closely with the Hungarian authorities. Essentially they provide assistance in emergencies and disasters, they take on responsibilities in the field of social provision and in crises they are involved in attempts to find missing family members through their search service.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)