The Red Cross Society of
China is coordinating with an international oversight body as it builds a
modern, humanitarian organization and bids farewell to the turbulence of its
recent past.
The society came under fire
last year after a young woman, claiming to be a society official, wrote a micro
blog boasting about her lavish lifestyle and flaunting her wealth. It caused a
huge public backlash.
“Despite the fact that it
was pure fantasy, the society’s image suffered. But it also showed that we
needed reform to become more open and transparent,” Zhao Baige, executive
vice-president of the society, said at a forum on Saturday attended by Red
Cross societies in the Asia-Pacific region.
The society is working with
the oversight group, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, to achieve globally recognized certification, Zhao said.
The Organizational Capacity
and Assessment Certification sets standards to evaluate Red Cross societies.
“It helps us know ourselves
better and make targeted improvements,” Zhao told China Daily.
Self-development, work
implementation, resource mobilization and supervision, will all be under
scrutiny and will be expected to meet certain standards, according to Tadateru
Konoe, federation president.
China’s growing global
clout means that the public have a right to expect the best from the society,
he said.
The society set an excellent
example by coordinating with the federation, Zhao said.
To date, only 21 of the 187
global Red Cross societies worldwide have completed the certification process
and Konoe praised China for its openness.
“It’s like operating on
yourself to heal your own defects and this takes courage,” Zhao said.
The society is at the first
stage of the certification process. This involves an internal evaluation that
is carried out domestically by specialists, society decision makers and some
branch leaders.
Internal governance,
organizational independence, leadership capacity, volunteer mobilization, and
public supervision need to be substantially improved to meet today’s
challenges, Zhao said.
These are also in line with
the current reform measures, she said.
Konoe agreed, adding that
“great adaptability is an important asset for strong Red Cross societies”.
Many leaders of national
societies were promoted from the lower ranks.
“I myself also started as a
volunteer,” Konoe said.
After the self-evaluation
phase, the society will launch a peer review. This will see the society
evaluated by other national societies in the global Red Cross family.
The whole process will take
at least two years.
“We may release a global
ranking of Red Cross national societies,” Konoe said.
Contact the writer at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn
