Address by PhD. Sait Saiti, Secretary General of the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia on the occasion of the visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Zaev

Distinguished Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Zaev

Distinguished President of the Red Cross of RNM,

Distinguished media representatives,

It gives me special pleasure to have the opportunity today to greet you on behalf of the membership, volunteers and staff of the Red Cross of RNM.

Distinguished Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia.

At the beginning, let me express my special gratitude to you for taking the time to visit our house of humanity, which is always open and serves in the interest of the well-being of the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia. On this occasion, I would like to express my public gratitude for the cooperation with the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia and the line ministries and the support you provide for the work of our organization.

The Red Cross of RNM continuously during its existence from 1945 until today organizes and implements a series of services in the country in accordance with our mission and mandate and the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. We are constantly learning from the past, to be ready for the future, to be better and more successful, always at the service of our beneficiaries.

The Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia implements various activities and services for the promotion of the social and health welfare of the citizens. In doing so, we are constantly mobilizing volunteers and funds to deal with humanitarian challenges that arise as a result of climate change and natural disasters that are unfortunately increasingly present in our area, such as the recent fires in the country.

We are constantly investing in the competencies and knowledge of our human resources to continue to be recognized as leaders in humanitarian work, in the field of promoting voluntary blood donation, first aid, promoting healthy living habits, promoting volunteerism, disseminating human values ​​and international humanitarian law, providing support for migrants, the homeless and other socially disadvantaged groups in the country, animating and supporting young people and the elderly, raising awareness on disaster preparedness and protection, water rescue and mountain safety, and many other activities that we implement them in the Republic of North Macedonia.

One of the biggest challenges, of course, was and remains dealing with and mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and providing support for various target categories to promote human health. We are proud that our volunteers who helped and are still active in various activities to raise awareness on pandemic protection, providing humanitarian assistance, psychosocial support to vulnerable groups and support of vaccination points, in our joint efforts to deal with the pandemic .

In the new social environment, governments are no longer seen as the sole actors responsible for securing or financing public welfare activities, but new correlations promote new frameworks for cooperation between different sectors to better ensure an adequate response to the most difficult challenges of in the field of development and in the humanitarian sphere. That is why today, more than ever, state and non-state actors need to reconcile interests and opportunities by building ambitious coalitions that correspond to the scope of the challenges we want to address in the humanitarian environment.

In this regard, I would like to emphasize the latest joint initiative of the Red Cross of the RNM and the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, to provide a complementary sustainable approach to preparedness for emergency action in case of disasters in the Republic of North Macedonia. Today, to our mutual satisfaction, we will discuss our joint initiative for cooperation in establishing a stock reserve program for emergency response. We believe that this Program will be a good basis for our joint response to the humanitarian challenges that occur in our country and the region as a result of crisis situations and disasters.

Dear Mr. Zaev

We will be especially glad, today in our conversations to present you in more detail some of the activities of our organization. We hope that you will feel comfortable in the Red Cross of RNM which many people recognize as a place for new friendships, for learning and sharing knowledge, for volunteering, for membership, for dedicating a part of their life to humanity.

Let me once again wish you a sincere welcome.