UWC Red Cross Nordic was invited to send two representatives – Larry Lamont as Rektor and Arne Osland as Director of Development – to the Norwegian Red Cross’ Landsmøtet (annual general assembly) 2017 in Haugesund (the 40th anniversary of this event).
Alongside representation from all the Red Cross districts in Norway, the Norwegian Red Cross had also extended an invitation to the Presidents and other representatives of their partner Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies including: Burundi, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Macedonia, Mali, South-Sudan, Sweden, Syria.
Arne Osland and Odd Grann, former General Secretary of the Norwegian Red Cross (instrumental in establishing the partnership between the College and the Red Cross)
Khaled Hboubati of the Syrian Red Cross and Red Crescent gave an opening address to provide an insight into the role of the Red Cross in Syria and to thank the Norwegian Red Cross for its support on the eve of signing a partnership agreement.
Prime Minister, Erna Sølberg, gave a powerful address on the value of volunteering. Margareta Wahlstrøm of the Swedish NC – one of the candidates for the Presidency of the IFRC – gave an insight into the refugee crisis in Europe.
During the course of the assembly, Robert Mood was elected to be the new President of the Norwegian Red Cross. He is the former head of the United Nations’ Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). He was previously Inspector General of the Norwegian Army and Chief of the United Nations truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).
Our region Sogn og Fjordane was represented by 40 delegates and Mawra Mahmood, the leader of Red Cross Youth and a visitor to RCN last April, was one of the keynote speakers.
The conference was a reminder of the the importance and potential of our College’s partnership with the Red Cross.
(The main photo shows: Sven Mollekleiv (President of Norwegian Red Cross); Åsne Havnelid (former Sec General of Norwegian Red Cross); M. Pamphile Kantabaze (President of Burundi Red Cross); M. Abdourah Mane Cisse (President of Mali Red Cross)
