Health (including malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis)
Too many people die due to a lack of access to even the most basic health services and elementary health education. Health and community care has become a cornerstone of development assistance, and accounts for a large part of Red Cross Red Crescent spending.

• Advocates for health and care for the most vulnerable groups towards the EU

• Promotes community involvement in health and care EU development policies

• Promotes the RC/RC as a key partner in global and country-based operational alliances and networks in health and care at the global, regional, national and local levels.

 
Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness
Climate Change is happening now. It is widely acknowledged that climate change is a reality and that developing countries will be hardest hit.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent has already been confronted with an increase in weather-related disasters, and there is an urgent need to better manage the rising risk of extreme weather events, including better early warning, enhanced disaster relief, increased efforts on disaster risk reduction and better and smarter programs in health & care, water & sanitation, and food security. In addition, there are rising concerns on the potential impacts of climate change on migration patterns.

Measures to reduce the impacts of climate change, which are being debated and implemented should include clear mechanisms to provide resources to reduce the risks facing the most vulnerable people. Based on the Red Cross and Red Crescent commitments and concerns in the field of climate change as well as operational experiences, an important role of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is therefore to raise awareness and help people and institutions learn about climate change and its humanitarian consequences.

The Red Cross/EU Office:

• Advocates to ensure that the most vulnerable people are included in the EU response to climate change

• Monitors and informs about the institutional decisions and activities in the field of Climate Change and DRR and

• Provides input and shares experience where necessary

• Supports a Climate Change network within the Red Cross and Red Crescent

• Promotes the Red Cross and Red Crescent as a key partner in country-based operational alliances and networks in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction

Food Security and Water and Sanitation
In our world today, more than one billion people do not have access to clean water and over 900 million people are estimated to be malnourished - most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia.

The Red Cross/EU Office:

• Raises the concerns of vulnerable communities from the south in order to emphasise the need to strengthen response capacities of local beneficiaries in policy and implementation of EU response in the areas of food security and rural development

• Brings experience from ongoing programmes in the field to the EC and advocates for inclusion of local partners from the south.