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The 29th Conference has been convened for June 20-21, 2006 with the purpose
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to consider and adopt amendments to the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement consequent upon the adoption on 8 December 2005 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III); |
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to consider and decide upon the proposed name of "red crystal" for the distinctive emblem of Protocol III; and |
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to create a framework for the recognition and admission of the Palestine Red Crescent Society. |
In view of the limited scope and purpose of this Conference, as described above, the Standing Commission decided to defer all other business to the 30th Conference, which will take place in November 2007 as decided by the 28th International Conference.
The need to convene the 29th International Conference for June 20-21, 2006 arose with the adoption in December 2005 of the Additional Protocol III, which brought about the requirement to amend the Statutes of the Movement to bring them into line with the additional protocol.
According to Article 10, paragraph 3 of the Statutes of the Movement, the International Conference has “the sole competence
a) to amend the present Statutes and the Rules of Procedure of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (hereinafter called "Rules of Procedure");
b) to take, at the request of any of its members, the final decision on any difference of opinion as to the interpretation and application of these Statutes and Rules.”
The Standing Commission expressed as its aim and objective when it decided on the draft provisional agenda of the 29th Conference, that the tasks outlined above be completed by consensus as has been the tradition at International Conferences.
The adoption by consensus of a resolution accepting the proposed amendments to the Statutes and the name for the Protocol III emblem – red crystal - and calling for the recognition and admission of the PRCS would strengthen the expression of will by the States Parties at the Diplomatic Conference.
However, it is not within the competence of the Conference to decide on the recognition and admission of specific National Societies, which are the responsibilities of the ICRC and the International Federation respectively. The task of the RC/RC Conference is solely to finish on the internal Movement level what has been decided on the international level by States Parties at the Diplomatic Conference, i.e. to adapt the Movement statutes to the new international legal situation with the creation of an additional emblem.
The Conference will hear reports by the Swiss Government on progress in the implementation of the Magen David Adom – Palestine Red Crescent Memorandum of Understanding and of the Agreement on Operational Arrangements and by the Standing Commission on the follow-up to Resolution 3 on the emblem of the 28th Conference, held in 2003 in Geneva.
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