Editor of the Global First Aid Reference Centre Newsletter
I have been part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement for over 25 years. It is a unique institution, admirable and guided by great principles. Since 1984, I have put my skills and professional experience at the service of the Senegalese Red Cross, that I chair now, in my capacity as national president of the National Society since September 2019.
When I joined the Movement, Senegal was in a humanitarian emergency situation, many people were in need of help, and this first mission made a strong impression on me. Since then, I have been doing my best to ensure that the Movement and the Senegalese Red Cross can make their voices heard at national and international level.
In that sense, I believe that first aid is essential. It is at the centre of the Movement’s humanitarian action.
In fact, it is a service to the community, to ourselves, and it also pacifies and brings together the 192 National Societies, including the Senegalese Red Cross, which puts first aid education at the heart of its action, particularly in schools and in its 46 departmental committees throughout Senegal.
At the Senegalese Red Cross, we are committed to building our capacity, our human resources but also our economic resilience. Currently, the Senegalese Red Cross is part – together with three other African National Societies from Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger – of a large regional project aiming at training in first aid, the community, workers in companies, etc. This project is the result of a partnership with the Monegasque Cooperation, the French Red Cross, the Monaco Red Cross and the Belgian Red Cross. It will enable us, with the technical support of the Global First Aid Reference Centre, to make our activities visible, to provide quality services to the most vulnerable, but also to become more efficient and financially independent in order to develop our commercial first aid file.
Indeed, the training of our volunteers is essential. In Senegal, we have the capacity to mobilise our 30,000 active volunteers in emergency situations or according to specific needs. However, we still need to strengthen our capacity to respond effectively to the concerns of disadvantaged communities. This is why National Societies are coming together by exchanging and creating partnerships, with the aim of being more efficient, helping or supporting each other…
As for the Global First Aid Reference Centre, I want to say that it is “our” Centre, since it is the fruit of everyone’s reflection, and its successful results can be of benefit to all National Societies.
Moreover, as the second woman to be appointed President of the Senegalese Red Cross since 1962, gender equity is central to me. Gender cannot be decreed; it has to be built from the ground up. Since I joined the Senegalese Red Cross, I have always worked for men and women equality. I have been at the forefront of the fight for parity. We have certainly obtained it, partially, at the level of elected bodies, but not at all levels. In any case, we have had the essential: recognition. As women, we have a double challenge, but what is certain is that women can do as much as men, if not more.
To all the women of the Movement, I would like to show my gratitude. There is a need for more active participation, as we need to find strategies to overcome our constraints.
In an emergency situation, first aid is the first action required. We have seen what is happening on all continents, recently in Syria and in Turkey. We have to make sure that first aid is at the forefront and that it is our priority. It is the Movement’s responsibility, above all, to maintain and retain our volunteers, and this remains an issue for our National Societies. In fact, it is in volunteering that we find the men and women who work for the Movement.
Our strength lies with our volunteers who are the backbone of the Movement.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all the volunteers of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around the world.
