National Statement by Ambassador Foo Kok Jwee, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations Office at Geneva, at the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, 8 December 2015

Madam Chairperson

Ladies and Gentlemen

We are meeting at a time of unprecedented humanitarian challenges. 

We are seeing new forms of conflicts around the world – conflicts have become more protracted; moving from traditional open battlefields to urban centres; and involving actors with open disregard for international law and international humanitarian law.

We now have more refugees and irregular migrants than any time since the end of the Second World War.

There are more reported major natural disasters.

The humanitarian space in many conflict areas has become even more politicised.

To be more effective in such complex, and even hostile environments, humanitarian organisations like the ICRC and the international community will have to retool their humanitarian assistance models; build new practical partnerships on the ground; and acquire new capabilities such as how to quickly restore urban services in urbanised conflict zones or disaster areas.

This also means that there are now more opportunities for the international community, including small states like Singapore, and other stakeholders to contribute their know-how.

Madam Chairperson,

Singapore is also not immune from natural and man-made disasters and threats including terrorism.  

We plan for the long-term and integrate disaster risk reduction into our national development strategies and policies, because such incidents can cause substantial impact due to our small size and high population density. 

We place special emphasis on building up community resilience and response.  

We promote regional cooperation and collective security because we recognise that no country can deal with disasters by itself.  

To date, Singapore has deployed more than 30 Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations overseas. 

Singapore is also building our capacity to serve as a regional hub for HADR operations.

We set up the Regional HADR Coordination Centre (RHCC) in Singapore last year. 

The RHCC works closely with stakeholders like UN OCHA and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre on Humanitarian Assistance (AHA), to better coordinate military-military and military-civil disaster response in our region, and assist affected national authorities in their relief efforts.

We are also sharing our experience in disaster risk management and building resilience, in particular in urban settings, with other countries, in particular Small Island and Developing States (SID), through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP).

Just two months ago (in October 2015), Singapore teamed up with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) to conduct a specialised training course to strengthen the disaster risk management capacity of SIDS and other countries, including how to implement the Sendai Framework.

Madam Chairperson,

Singapore will continue to seek practical and impactful ways to support international efforts to tackle today’s complex humanitarian challenges. 

We also hope to strengthen and broaden our collaboration with the ICRC in areas of mutual benefit to promote international stability and humanitarian action.

I thank you for your attention.

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