A Shade of Green - Johan Schaar's paper

Here is a lengthy extract from Johan Schaar's (pictured above) paper A Shade of Green: Environmental Protection as Part of Humanitarian Action that was published by the Institut Henry-Dunant Geneve.It highlights Henrik Beer's pioneering work in involving Red Cross and Red Crescent in environmental activities.

Accordingly, the League’s Health Committee, chaired by Dr. Domanska of the Polish Red Cross, presented a report to the League Board of Governors’ in Mexico in 1971.

In describing the environmental problem, the report focuses on the effects of industrial society on ”the physical and mental health of mankind”. It finds that not only is the influence of noise, air and water pollution on man’s physical well-being of concern, but also the impoverishment of social life in the large industrial towns.

Regarding the Red Cross/Red Crescent role in dealing with environmental problems, the report emphasizes the potential of its voluntary workers, with their “dedication, zeal, generosity and good will”. These should be engaged in action coordinated with other voluntary agencies and – in particular – with the authorities. The auxiliary role of the Red Cross/Red Crescent should not exclude, however, the exertion of “some sort of pressure” on the authorities to undertake measures found necessary by the Society in question.


The Board of Governors responded to the report by passing a resolution (no 29) on The Red Cross and the problems of the Environment. The resolution recognized the responsibility of the Red Cross to Contribute to the protection and improvement of human living conditions, especially in the medico-social field, and concluded by charging the Secretary General to continue the League’s contribution to the preparation for the UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 in order to clarify the Red Cross environmental role. It also identified the need for “concrete planning and leadership within the Red Cross” as regards its participation in environmental improvement. (The resolution’s request that the coming reappraisal of the Red Cross, later known as the “Tansley report”, should take the environmental issue into serious consideration seems to have passed largely unnoticed).

The League’s Secretary General at this time was Henrik Beer. In a personal capacity he had been appointed of the advisory panel to the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. The report to the League’s Executive Committee in September 1972 on the follow-up of the Board of Governors’ 1971 environment resolution is, consequently, mostly a report from the Stockholm Conference.

In its conclusion, the report states that, unprecedented in terms of UN conference history, all main Red Cross concern had been discussed: hygiene, health, urban development, population, war, poverty, education, youth, development, disasters etc, demonstrating the intersectoral and interdisciplinary nature of the environmental issue. It concluded that, given the great diversity of environmental problems, priority should be given to the special position of National Societies in developing countries, in order to strengthen their role as government auxiliaries.

In view of the prominent role played by Beer personally in the Stockholm Conference, it is interesting to hear his views as reflected in his statement to the Conference on the Red Cross role and the environmental issue. Beer stated the Red Cross belief in universality as the basis for all humanitarian efforts, implying thereby its relevance for dealing with the issue at hand. He then refers to the traditional role of the organization in counteracting the effects of war which may “be regarded as something aiming at ameliorating one of the worst man-made threats to a decent environment”. Special mention is then made of the work on what came to be the Additional Geneva Protocols, which had just started at that time, and include articles on the protection of the natural environment in war.

According to Beer, the basic tasks of the Red Cross had already been re-defined as a broad effort to improve the human environment. A list of practical examples of environmental action is then given. These include environmental health campaigns, urban social programmes, pre-disaster planning, prevention of accidents and family planning. Beer concludes by saying that the most important task ahead is to create awareness and pressure for reform at all levels of society. In this undertaking, an organization like the Red Cross, with its almost “professional optimism” has a special role to play.

Henrik Beer - An appreciation by Brian Walker - ex OXFAM

Henrik Beer – an appreciation.



I first met Henrik in 1975 shortly after my appointment as Director of Oxfam and when it was a single, world-wide agency head-quartered in Oxford.

My predecessor, the late Sir Leslie Kirkley, took me to Geneva that spring, principally to introduce me to Henrik as the leader of the main “Disaster” response agencies. These had come together at Henrik’s invitation to form what was called (somewhat clumsily) – “The Geneva Ad Hoc Committee on Disaster Relief”. This loose association was based in the offices of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It was chaired by Henrik.

This was the start of a fine, high quality friendship which lasted through to Henrik’s untimely death in 1990. I visited Henrik in hospital three days before his death. He smiled throughout our short conversation despite his obvious pain and clear understanding of his condition. Here was a man of quality.

Henrik was highly intelligent. A born conciliator he was able to hold confidences with integrity, anxious to improve through better and wiser management the contribution of his national Red Cross Society members. He was anxious to break the un-natural distinction inherited between “disaster relief” which was the focus for the national Red Cross Societies and ICRC, and “development” with all its political baggage and radical philosophy which ICRC was anxious to avoid.

Our partnership, I felt, was crucial to the evolution of the then six Ad hoc committee members, and in due course we were able to help the Red Cross/Red Crescent itself to assume a role in development as well as in disaster response.

This was by no means easy for Henrik - but his sense of good humour and his steady determination were at once impressive and effective.

We agreed to set up a daily fax system for disseminating to member agencies the latest news from the ground in any disaster, with Henrik’s office concentrating on “relief” and Oxfam on the “development” side of any potential response. That remains the standard mode.

Occasionally, Henrik would ask me home to have supper or to discuss contentious issues in private. He was an excellent host, always honest as well as honourable. I came to realise he was a great admirer of the late Winston Churchill and, as a Swede, appreciated the dry humour of the English. His integrity was unimpeachable; so was his humanity.



Brian W. Walker. 16.12.07.

Henrik Beer in Hanoi - 1968

Found this photo in our archives in Geneva. Anyone out there recognise the people with Henrik Beer ? Appreciate your feedback.

Bob

"I sent you forth my brightest world, now it's nearly gone"

This was posted on the Federation's website on 24 November 2007




24 November 2007
Bob McKerrow, Head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent’s Indonesia delegation

As we come close to the start of UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Bob McKerrow, Head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent’s Indonesia delegation reflects on where the world’s oldest and largest humanitarian organisation has come from in terms of championing environmental issues.

McKerrow is one of the longest-serving International Federation delegates and has also published three books inspired by nature. He has climbed and trekked extensively in New Zealand, Europe, Peru, Antarctica, Borneo, East Africa, Nepal, India, Central Asia and has also been on expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, and for the first time united the representatives of multiple governments to discuss the state of the global environment. This conference led directly to the creation of government environment agencies and the UN Environment Program.

Henrik Beer, Secretary General of the International Federation (from 1960-82) participated in the conference, and was deeply moved by predictions of the earth slowly destroying itself. He left inspired and determined to get the Red Cross Red Crescent involved in environmental programmes in order to stop the environmental degradation that he believed was worsening the plight of vulnerable people.

In 1972-73 the phrase “Climate Change” had not been coined, but Henrik Beer’s vision changed the way some Red Cross Crescent societies thought and acted, as they started undertaking environmental programmes, a shift that set the foundation for an easy understanding of the later, and insidious onset of global warming.

Slowly Henrik encouraged Red Cross societies such as Ethiopia - suffering from drought in 73-74 - to plant trees and to get young people involved. He had similar messages for flood-stricken Nepal and India. He was passionate about reforestation, he understood overgrazing and the need to protect mountain lands and water catchments. In 1975 when I went to Nepal as a disaster preparedness delegate, he reminded me of the need to plant trees and make the young aware of the need to care for the environment.

In 1981, when I was working in India on a huge cyclone preparedness programme, Henrik Beer made his last field visit as secretary general. We were building 233 cyclone shelters and part of the programme was an integrated disaster preparedness programme where young volunteers planted trees to protect the coastline, the shelters, and drainage canals. Henrik was thrilled to see the Indian volunteers active with environmental programmes.

Today, planting trees for protection along cyclone prone coastlines is an archetypal way of addressing the increased threats posed by climate change.

Two years after Henrik Beer started his tenure as secretary general in 1960, the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson was published. It highlighted the impact of chemicals on the natural environment. At the time this was revelatory stuff. In 1967 the Torrey Canyon oil tanker went aground off the southwest coast of England, and in 1969 oil spilled from an offshore well in California's Santa Barbara Channel. In 1971 the conclusion of a lawsuit in Japan drew international attention to the effects of decades of mercury poisoning on the people of Minamata.

At the same time, emerging scientific research threw the spotlight on existing and hypothetical threats to the environment and humanity. Among them were Paul R. Ehrlich, whose book “The Population Bomb”, published in 1968, revived concerns about the impact of population growth. Biologist Barry Commoner generated a debate about growth, affluence and "flawed technology." Additionally, an association of scientists and political leaders known as the Club of Rome published their report “The Limits to Growth” in 1972, which drew attention to the growing pressure on natural resources from human activities. Meanwhile, nuclear proliferation and the first photos of Earth from space emphasized the consequences of technological accomplishments, as well as Earth's truly small place in the universe.

Henrik Beer was a voracious reader and kept abreast of world affairs and especially topics related to humanity and environment. I was fortunate in coming to Geneva in early 1975 as a young desk officer and met him on many occasions. Henrik spoke with conviction and passion about the environment.

His words, spoken over three decades ago, could have been written yesterday as a rallying call for all civil society and government organisations to come together and safeguard our future:

“Can the agencies and the many INGOs each treat the world network of organizations as an administrative problem when it clearly represents an unstudied social problem? Is it not an unexplored global network of resources — of which the governmental and business worlds are an integral part – which has not yet been effectively related to the peace/population/food/development/education/environment crisis precisely because the functional relationship of all the parts to the social whole is repeatedly and systematically ignored in organizational decisions?

“It is no longer useful to concentrate on the problems of one "independent" organization or group of organizations (as though each operated as an autonomous frontier outpost surrounded by uncharted terrain). Nor is it useful to focus on a single geographical region or subject area -- it is now essential to look at the problems of the network of interdependent organizations and their inter- related concerns.”

Mama Nature said
"It's murder what you've done"
I sent you forth my brightest world
Now it's nearly gone

Mama Nature said
"I can't believe it's true"
I gave you life and food for thought
Look what did you do

You're killing my rivers
Drowning my baby streams
Day by day by day by day
I hear them scream

Mama Nature said
"You're guilty of this crime"
Now it's not just a matter of fact
But just a matter of time

MamaNature Said, by Thin Lizzy, 1973

Henrik Beer and Climate Change

With the UN Climate Change conference coming up in Bali next month, it is interesting to look back at the contribution Henrik Beer made to bringing environmental issues to centre stage in the world.

There is a widely prevalent tendency to think of organizations, particularly international organizations, - as functioning within thesocial system like billiard balls on a table. In this view, they may "knock into" one another, but essentially they are completely unrelated to one another -- there is no permanent organic relationship between them.

This view resembles that which lies at the base of current environmental problems, namely that each factory can function in its environment as though its products had no significant effect on other parts of nature. In the past year, however, it has become widely recognized that man exists in a very delicate and complex equilibrium with his environment, -- any industrial activity may have consequences for any other. Each factory functions in a web or network of dynamic relationships with other factories, via the processes of the natural environment.

To what extent is it recognized that every socialactivity of man -- the domain of most INGOs -- may have significant consequences for any other social activity? It is, in fact, impossible to predict which organizations will give rise to problems by their actions, which other bodies will be affected, and which bodies will then be in the best position to undertake compensatory action. All social entities — INGOs, IGGs, groups, national or local bodies, movements, and individuals — are bound together in a delicate web of interdependent social relationships, in which each is autonomous and at the same time, dependent on the actions of others. It is a truism that "No man is an island unto himself" but it is not so widely recognized that none of man's organizations can function in isolation.

This is clearly recognized in one field as shown by the following extract from a speech by Henrik Beer, Secretary General of the League of Red Cross Societies, at the 15th International Conference on Social Welfare:

One of the most important trends in the field of international voluntary service in recent years has been the recognition that social development cannot be pried loose from economic and political development and that the work of volunteer organizations cannot be isolated from other aspects of social work Prognostics for voluntary service must be seen as part of a whole. It is already outmoded to look on community social services as an entity in itself: it is part of a socio-economic whole...

From now on U.N. programmes will not be considered individually. Priority will be given to a total approach by every country to their own development planning, with harmonised progress and, hopefully, no compétition between different agencies and ministries about priorities, people and money.

The same will apply to our planning -- we shall no longer promote only the programmes we favour. The excessive stress placed on the autonomy of organizations masks the links between them. Excessive focus on one type of link — the consultative relationship with UN agencies - de-emphasizes the many other links, formal and informal, between organizations of many types, thus rendering impossible any balanced understanding of the social system.

Can INGOs — recognized or unrecognized by the UN system -- adopt, any course of collective action which is so shortsighted and procedure-oriented as to expressly favor only isolated. international organizations whilst ignoring the immensely complex world network of organizations of all types which stretches from the individual to local, national and international bodies to include the potentially highly-significant inter-INGO groupings?

For that matter, can the UN agencies afford to encourage any action which fragments INGOs into unrelated agency-oriented groupings at a point in time when the global crisis is completely multi-disciplinary, and demands the utilization of every available resource? Can the agencies and the many INGOs each treat the world network of organizations as an administrative problem when it clearly represents an unstudied social problem? Is it not an unexplored global network of resources — of which the governmental and business worlds are an integral part -- which has notyet been effectively related to the peace/population/food/development/education/environment crisis precisely because the functional relationship of all the parts to the social whole is repeatedly and systematically ignored in organizational decisions?

It is no longer useful to concentrate on the problems of one "independent" organization or group of organizations (as though each operated as an autonomous frontier outpost surrounded by uncharted terrain). Nor is it useful to. focus on a single geographical region or subject area -- it is now essential to look at the problems of the network of interdependent organizations and their inter- related concerns. (The terrain is now charted and populated so that the previously isolated frontier posts can now band together to survive as a community.) The nature and complexity of interdependence between plants and animals in nature has been the theme of the whole environment /ecology issue and the 1970 European Conservation Year. Perhaps this interdependence, still only recognized with great difficulty, between extremely different organisms can be used as a parallel to illustrate the nature of the interdependence between organizations of different typesand social function. This social interdependence has yet to be recognized with precision despite frequent use of such terms as the "international community." A century ago it was precisely this theme of interdependence between natural organisms which was forcefully stressed amid much controversy with texts such as the following :

"Many casesare on record showing how complex and unexpected are the checks and relations between organic beings which have to struggle together in the same country... I am tempted to give one more instance showing, how plants and animals, most remote in the scale of nature, arebound together by a web of complex relations." (Charles Darwin. The Origin of Species, London, 1859)
The example showed how two species of flower were fertilized with the aid of humble — boos whose nests were attacked by field-mice, which were in turn preyed upon by cats.

"Hence it is quite credible that the presence of a feline animal in large numbers in a district might determine, through the intervention first of mice and then of bees, the frequency of certain flowers in that district... A corollaryof the highest importance may be deduced from the foregoing remarks, namely that the structure of every organic being is related, in the most essential yet often hidden manner, to that of all other organic beings, with which it comes into competition for food or residence, or from which it has to escape, or on which it preys."
With this perspective, what can be said of the relationship between such social structures as governmental, and nongovernmental, profit and nonprofit, formal and informal organizations, movements, periodicals, mass media, etc? Is enough yet. known of organizational ecology, namely the chains of interdependence between social organizations of totally different types, to be able to determine which actions of one type of organisation will directly or indirectly affect the operations and even the survival of which other types of organizations responsible in society for other functions?

"The program of a large organization, whether intended or not.... affects a wide sector of the organization's environment, one much wider than the organization may understand to be its surrounds...Organizations that wish to deal responsibly with their social surrounds must be capable of eliciting and evaluating responses from those who realize that they are affected hut who ore ordinarily silent, and from those who are affected but may not realize it..." (R. A. Rosenthal and R.S. Weiss, Problems of Organizational Feedback Processes.)
In view of the ignorance of these inter-organizational processes and of the ecological role of different categories of the social flora and fauna:

"We think that anybody who wished to sort out "necessary" and "superfluous" or "justified" and "unjustified" NGO's so as to prove the alienation that there is an inflation of international organizations (in the deprecatory sense) would find it rather hard to define his criteria and would have to claim for himself the foresight of a prophet before making his judgement in a great many cases. Furthermore, even the smallest, lowliest, and oddest NGO's may well bo regarded as an expression of the genuine longing of their members for more international contact, understanding and cooperation. Such longings should be taken seriously because human motivation and psychological factors of this kind are of considerable importance for the whole present and future development of international organizations." (Alexander Szalai. The Future of international organizations, New York, UNITAR, 1970. Paper presented to a seminar on organizations of the future.

Nepal: Ramesh Kumar Sharma- comments on Henrik Beer

I just received an email from Ramesh Kumar Sharma, former Chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society for decades. He was also a founder member of the Nepal Red Cross Society.

Dear Bob


I hope you this finds you in good spirit and an energetic mood.

I met Henrik Beer first time in 1966 in Kathmandu. The date was 22nd March.

The next time he was specially requested to come to solve the Emblem issue. The Queen wanted a special emblem for the Nepal Red Cross which he amicablly and convincingly settled at the Palace. The date was 15 Feb i981.

I met him again in 1981 in Manila during the International Conference when he was retiring. He was very dynamic person.

Regards,
Sincerely
Ramesh

Ramesh Kumar Sharma

Memories of Henrik Beer

My fondest memories of Henrik was on a snowy Geneva winter day Dec 1978 or Jan 1979 when I was a young desk officer at the secretariat. I was duty officer and needed to check the telex for urgent messages. As the snow was quite thick, I didn't want to get stranded in my car, so I skiied in with my 20 month old daughter, warmly wrapped, on my back, the 3 km to the office. On arrival I went up to the telex room to find Henrik Beer watching the results of the first run of a Men's Slalom event coming through on the AFP teleprinter. Of course he was following the progress of fellow Swede Ingamar Stenmark. He was delighted to see me and made a big fuss over Anita. After the results came through and I had done my duty officer work, he invited me to his office and we had a long talk and he produced a bottle of schnaps.

Anita was crawling and walking around the office of this famous man and Henrik was so warm and engaging with her. He asked me how old I was and I said, " 31 years. " You have a bright future, and remember one thing. Red Cross is not political but to survive and flourish in this organisation, you must understand politics."

Skiing home that late afternoon, glowing inside from the schnaps, I felt I had really sat at the foot of the Guru. They were the days before "Zero Tolerance."

In late 1981, just before Henrik Beer retired, I hosted him on his last field visit. I was then working in Southern India where the League of Red Cross Societies were running a massive construction project, that of building 233 cyclone shelters along the 2000 km of cyclone prone coastine in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. It was with a great sense of pride thatI escorted Henrik on his last visit. As we travelled together from Madras, he asked me, "How is Anita." He had remembered her name from that snowy Geneva day when she played in his office. That was typical of Henrik beer, he loved people and his work.

Another memory or more precisely, was a souvenir that I had for more than 20 years. In the late 1970's, the League sold off a lot of old furniture replacing it with modern stuff. I bought Henrik's coffee table and used to think of all the world's statesmen and women that had discussed the leading global humanitarian issues of the day. People like Dag Hammerskold, U Thant, Indira Gandhi, Agha Khan had sipped tea, coffee and water from that table.

Bob McKerrow

Carl Naucler and Alistair Henley

I have just come back from a Red Cross meeting in Kuala Lumpur and it was enjoyable ralking to people who knew Henrik Beer. The first head of the Federation's Asia and Pacific Zone, Alistair Henley, worked in Geneva for almost ten years while Henrik was secretary general, and spoke of him as man of great vision and leadership skills.

Carl Naucler knew Henrik for about 20 years and recalled Henrik's son Johannes coming to work with him as a volunteer in Nepal.

People who knew Henrik

During the past few weeks I have got the names of people who knew Henrik Beer. If you read this, I would really appreciate a contribution from you.
Uno Mellåker:
Nils Arvid Jonasson
Mr Ola Grundin
Birgitta Bertmar
Gunnar Siegel
Björn Runberg
Ragnar Boll
Elisabeth Widman
Claes Göran Landergren
Ragnar Boll
Fredrik Gladh,

The winds of change, Algerian Refugees in Tunisia

".....the indispensable transmission belt between the international interest stimulated by our office....and measures of practical aid in the field......

The United Nations connection made substantial government fund available for League operations - with both beneficial and detrimental effects. On the one hand, Beer had the money to recruit field staff quickly. On the other, there was little additional finance to cover the increased workload in the Secretariat and the field personnel could be retained only so long as the UN grants continued. Therefore a period of rapid expansion commenced, followed by sudden retraction, a pattern that was to characterize the League for many years. The long-term view was that capacity must be built up in the newly emergent National Societies, but for that - unlike emergency operations - the money was always tight. Decolonization could be a protracted and bitter business, as in Algeria." (Beyond Conflict: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1994, Daphne A. Reid and Patrick F. Gilbo)

UNHCR reports to General Assemby, New York 1962

"Mr. Henrik Beer, Secretary-General of the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, confirmed the High commissioner's announcement that the League would continue the relief operation on the understanding that the necessary contributions would be forthcoming from governmental sources. The League, for its part, had appealed to each of its national Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Lion and Sun Societies to support the action of its Board of Governors to intensify gifts in cash and in kind to maintain the present level of relief provided to nearly 300,000 refugees without means of livelihood in the asylum countries of Morocco and Tunisia."

(http://www.unhcr.org/excom/EXCOM/3ae68c3e0.html)

The term "NGO" - Henrik Beer, advisor to UNEP

"Henrik Beer, advisor to UNEP Executive Director on NGOs has stated that : 'There is no NGO community as such. The NGO world is composed of-many different elements - some are purely technically NGOs - they are composed of communities, for instance, or specific parts of the community, and are therefore more governmental than non-governmental. Others are specialist, scientific or professional organisations, others major popular organisations of different kinds with the environmental issue as a side line. One should therefore beware of speaking of NGOs' opinions, NGOs' possibilities as unified factors, they are as varied as humanity itself '. Some organisations of great relevance to UNEP's work find the description difficult to understand, especially as applying to them. Some social scientists have arrived at a consensus as to what is meant by NGO. It is :
1) privately (rather than publicly) established
2) not-for-profit,
3) voluntary membership participation."

(http://www.nautilus.org/~rmit/publications/ConceptNGO-IntAssociations-1977-4.pdf)

125th Anniversary of the International Review of the Red Cross

"Between 1948 and 1967, the National Societies grew in number from 65 to 106. The Movement enjoyed a spectacular expansion, owing mainly to the newly-won independence of many African, Asian and Caribbean countries. This created new responsibilities, for a new Society cannot simply be set up; it must still develop into a functional organization. In 1961, the League's Red Cross Development Programme was introduced for the purpose of organizing the National Societies as a force to provide relief and assistance to the population; a force that drew its strength from the participation of individuals whose activities were geared to the specific needs of each country.As Henrik Beer, a former League Secretary General, wrote: "This new dynamic Red Cross must be carried forward on the impetus of new principles. It resolutely turns its back on paternalism, which has been superseded by fellowship and full team spirit. It is this which is the originality of the League's mission. At the same time, under the drive and impetus of a spirit of understanding and harmony, it has undertaken the challenging task of weaving a vast network of technical cooperation in the most widely varying fields"."

(http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JMMD)

Everywhere for everyone...

"in 1969, the League celebrated its fiftieth birthday. With 112 members around the world, it was conscious of - but largely comfortable with - its increasing spread and diversity. Nonetheless, it entered a period of introspection.

The demands of disaster and war were heavier than ever, with appeals being issued by the Secretariat every three weeks throughout the 1970s. Even as staff struggled to cope with unprecedented numbers of victims in Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East, new members of the League were demanding more attention. In particular, they wanted more resources devoted to development.
In Geneva, Secretary General Beer stated bluntly that all the plans and policy statements would amount to no more than 'wishful thinking' unless the League balanced its objectives with its money. Was it not possible that the organisation was trying to do too much?

In 1973, the movement commissioned 'The Big Study', an external report, by Canadian Donald Tansley, on its strengths and weaknesses. He concluded that it should concentrate on the core activity of protection and assistance in war and disasters and downgrade many of the other programmes that had grown up over the years. It should also break away from its 'charity' approach to humanitarian work.

The report was received with mixed feelings. In particular, its proposals for a more central role for the Geneva institutions were seen as a threat to the jealously guarded autonomy of National Societies - and to many of their main programmes.

While the League constitutions was amended, to ensure a fair geographical distribution of its members, daily work at local, national and international level continued much as before. On balance, the movement agreed with the parts of Dr. Tansley's diagnosis but it did not like the prospect of the slimming treatment he prescribed. Consequently, in 1980, the organisation launched the new decade with a new slogan. It was: 'Everywhere for everyone'." (Beyond Conflict: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1994 - Daphne A. Reid and Patrick F. Gilbo)

Bourgeois d'honneur de Genève, Geneva July 1982

(Henrik Beer was honoured by Geneva in July 1982 with the title of Bourgeois d'honneur de Gèneve-the third person to receive this award during the previous three decades) "Au cours des dernières décennies, la bourgeoisie d’honneur a été accordée à des personnalités ayant oeuvre au sein des organizations internationals à Genève, en signe de reconnaissance de leurs importants mérites et de gratitude à leur contribution à la renommée de notre canton. C’est ainsi que la bourgeoisie d’honneur a notamment été conférée au Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés en 1978, à Monsieur Henrik Beer, secrétaire général de la ligue des sociétes de la Croix-Rouge en 1982, au Dr. Halfdan Mahler, ancient directeur de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé en 1989, à Monsieur Francis Blanchard, ancient directeur général de l’Organisation internationale du travail en 1989 toujours, à Monsieur Pekka Johannes Tarjanne, ancient secrétaire général de l’Union Internationale del Télécommunications (ci-après UIT), et à son épouse en 1999, à Monsieur Kofi Annan, secrétaire général des Nations Unies, en 2002, et en 2003, à titre posthume, à Monsieur Sergio Viera de Mello, représentant special du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies en Irak et Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies aux de l’homme, décédé en fonction." (http://www.geneve.ch/welcome2.html)

Eurovision song contest 1981

"Not all the funds raised in the selling of this monumental testiment to our musical heritage will fall into the pockets of Polydor. By buying this record you will be, to quote the back cover message of Henrik Beer (yes!), general secretary of the Red Cross, “helping the Red Cross carry out its work for humanity and peace. We thank you for your support.”

Well, thank you Henrik and here's to the next twenty-five years (glasses raised and drained, records flung into the fireplace). " (The Mick Sinclair archives http://www.micksinclair.com/sounds/euro.html)

Henrik Beer in North Vietnam, May 1969

(Henrik Beer visited Hanoi in May 1969, League Secreatary General was welcomed by Dr. Vu Dinh Tung, President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Red Cross)

"The league delegation fullfilled two tasks: coordinating the arrival of supplies and medical personnel from donor societies, and working with the Red Cross in South Vietnam to develop its operational capacity. Over 200 milk stations were established for young children, and substantial quantities of rice, fish and clothing distributed to the civilian population. In addition, a brand new centre for amputees was opened in Saigon, with the support of the American, British, French and the Netherlands National Socities. In May 1969, Henrik Beer was invited to North Vietnam-the first visit by a senior official of the League-and saw the National Society's extensive shopping list-medicaments, blankets, first aid kits, vehicles, administrative supplies-which was then circulated to potential donors. Stressing that both Vietnam societies were members of the League, he said that the secretariat's job was 'to accelerate their development' and he predicted that there would be 'greater scope for Red Cross action during the post-war period'."-(Beyond Conflict The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1994-Daphne A. Reid, Patrick F. Gilbo)

The Road to Hanoi (1958-1975)

"The evolution of the UNICEF mission in Viet Nam and all its protracted efforts must also testify to the single-mindedness of a number of determined people. Great names seem to frame the history of the great efforts made to bring this all about. There were, for a start, Spurgeone Milton Keeny and Margaret Gaan, Sir Ralph Richardson, Dr. Arthur E. Brown, Newton Bowles, Maurice Pate, Henry Labouisse, Henrik Beer, Dr. Boguslav Kozusznik, Edward Iwaskiewicz, Brian Jones and James P. Grant. There was the Indochina Peninsula Liaison Group, with Martin Sandberg, Jacques Beaumont, Dr. Charles Egger and Hasse Gaegner. There were their Vietnamese colleagues and counterparts, including Nguyen Co Thach, Pham Van Dong, Nguyen Tinh, Vo Van Sung, Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, Pham Minh Hac and Vu Van Mau. And there were various organizations, including the highly regarded Mother and Child Protection Committee, and titles such as the Republic of Viet Nam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government and the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam that have passed into the history they helped create." http://www.cfhst.net/UNICEF-TEMP/Doc-Repository/doc%5Cdoc433763.PDF

Henrik Beer's CV

The CV of Henrik Beer that was provided to the delegates of the 1959 Board of Governors meeting.

Biafra - A quote from Henrik Beer

Monday, Feb. 02, 1970 Time Magazine

Relief, Reconciliation, Reconstruction

THE lights came on again in Lagos last week, ending a 30-month blackout imposed to protect the Nigerian capital from Biafran bombers that never appeared. Unaccustomed to the brightness, bats swooped screeching out of trees to seek darkness elsewhere, and pedestrians stepped neatly over rain ditches they had fallen into during the war. Only half the lights went on again, however; there was not enough power available to light the rest. Plainly, peacetime conditions would not be restored with the mere flick of a switch.
Building Up Jerusalem. That was all too evident in the area of what had been Biafra, where 12 million people had sought to establish a state independent of Nigeria and its 45 million other inhabitants. Nigerian Leader Yakubu Gowon had pledged his victorious government to a program of reconciliation rather than recrimination toward the secessionists. Because of ineptitude and the war's unexpectedly sudden end, which caught relief agencies unprepared, Gowon's peace program flicked on only at half strength. Feeding programs broke down, medical supplies went undelivered and there were countless incidents of rape and looting.
No evidence could be seen of the deliberate genocide against which Biafra's General Odumegwu Ojukwu had warned before he hastily departed from his collapsing nation three weeks ago. Nigerian leaders, for the most part, made genuine efforts to see that Biafra's Ibo tribesmen were cared for. Nigerian money was rushed in to replace worthless Biafran currency, Ibo civil servants were rehired and their 30-month defection listed as "leave of absence without pay." Gowon, wearing a flowing blue African robe instead of a general's uniform, led a thanksgiving service at Lagos' Anglican cathedral. He selected and read the lesson of the service from the second chapter of Nehemiah: "Then I said unto them, ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach."
Foreign observers, after cursory checks of Gowon's Jerusalem, returned to Lagos with airily optimistic progress reports. United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, after two days in Lagos and none in Biafra, said unqualifiedly that "there is no hint, even the remotest evidence of violence by the Nigerian Federal forces." Henrik Beer, secretary general of the League of Red Cross Societies in Geneva, doubted that there had ever been wholesale starvation in Biafra. But hunger remained a very real threat. Gowon adamantly refused to let relief groups use Uli airstrip, a symbol of Biafran resistance. One result of his decision was that many of the 3,500,000 people in Biafra were going hun gry. According to some estimates by churchmen and physicians, as many as 1,000,000 Biafrans were on the verge of starvation. Ignoring pleas to stay put, perhaps 1,000,000 refugees choked the enclave's wreckage-strewn roads.

An article quoting Henrik Beer

31-08-1995 International Review of the Red Cross no 307, p.447-468 by Jacques Meurant
The 125th Anniversary of the International Review of the Red Cross - A Faithful Record -
III. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: solidarity and unity

Jacques Meurant was Special Adviser to Henrik Beer, Secretary General of the League of Red Cross Societies, then Adviser on statutory matters and later Director of the Henry Dunant Institute before taking up his current position as Editor of the International Review of the Red Cross in 1986.

3. Solidarity and development

Between 1948 and 1967, the National Societies grew in number from 65 to 106. The Movement enjoyed a spectacular expansion, owing mainly to the newly-won independence of many African, Asian and Caribbean countries. This created new responsibilities, for a new Society cannot simply be set up; it must still develop into a functional organization. In 1961, the League's Red Cross Development Programme was introduced for the purpose of organizing the National Societies as a force to provide relief and assistance to the population; a force that drew its strength from the participation of individuals whose activities were geared to the specific needs of each country.As Henrik Beer, a former League Secretary General, wrote: "This new dynamic Red Cross must be carried forward on the impetus of new principles. It resolutely turns its back on paternalism, which has been superseded by fellowship and full team spirit. It is this which is the originality of the League's mission. At the same time, under the drive and impetus of a spirit of understanding and harmony, it has undertaken the challenging task of weaving a vast network of technical cooperation in the most widely varying fields".

Extracts from Henrik Beer's biodata in 1960

From the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (LORCS) Monthly News and Report vol. II no. 10 October 1960

Henrik Beer was 44 years old in 1960, married with three children.
Graduate of Stockholm University with a BA and an MA in political science.
Started his association with the Red Cross as a consultant to the Swedish Red Cross in 1944.
Secretary General of Swedish Red Cross 1947 to 1960
Responsible for organising the 17th International Red Cross Conferennce in Stockholm in 1948.
On mission in Vienna in November 1956 to plan and prepare the League's relief operation re: Hungarian refugees in Austria
Directed the League's first International Study Centre, in Geneva from June 10-20, 1960, for leaders of National Societies in the Near East, North Africa and Africa.
Secretary General of the League from October 1960 to November 1981 (Note: he was elected to the position of Secretary General by a vote of the National Society delegates to the 1959 Board of Governors meeting - the delegates had a choice of two candidates to vote for).

Encouraging feedback from Japanese Red Cross

Many thanks for your invitation to your new initiative. As for possible his contribution, I will talk to Konoe-san on your behalf. I am sure there are many photos during Henrik's visit to Kyoto and Tokyo after Manila Conference in 1981. I returned home in August 1981, and received Henrik at the Osaka International Airport upon his arrival, and escourted him on his tour to Kyoto and Tokyo. As far as I know, the entire photo library at the NHQs are being degitally transformed. I will ask my friends for their progress. As soon as some photos be available, I will make necessary steps.

Hiroshi

Henrik Beer with New Zealand Red Cross reps - 1964

Two New Zealand delegates, Mr Colin McLennan, National Secretary of the New Zealand Red Cross since 1960 and Miss Janet Studholme, Director of the New Zealand Junior Red Cross since 1953, attended the South East Asia Red Cross Forum in Sydney - Miss Janet Studholme and Mr Colin McLennan with Mr Henrik Beer (centre), Secretary-General of the League of Red Cross Societies in Geneva

Hekrik Beer in Australia - 1964

Malaysian delegates to the South East Asia Red Cross Forum in Sydney (from right) Mr Francis A Xavier, Headquarters Training Officer; Raja Ahmad, Director of the Johore branch; and Mr N S Leow from the Headquarters Training Team, Chinese Section. Pictured with them at the University of Sydney, Forum Headquarters are (from left) Mr Henrik Beer, Secretary-General of the League of Red Cross Societies in Geneva and Mr Kingsley Seevaratnum, Organiser of the Development Programme, also from the League

1956 - Henrik Beer's involvement in the Hungarian operation

Hungarian refugees crossing into Austria-1956

1956 was a pivotal year in post war history. It marked the end of a global system which had endured more or less unchanged since 1919, and it set a pattern which was to continue until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years later. The crushing of the Hungarian uprising showed that the USSR was determined to force its role as a world power.
This shift in global politics saw the Red Cross movement involved in man made disasters: hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Congo, Hungary, the Indian sub-continent, and an expanded Israel and Vietnam.

Henrik Beer was to be a crucial player in his role as Secretary General of the Swedish Red Cross. On the morning of 27 October 1956, Radio Budapest reported that fighting had broken out and the Hungarian Red Cross were seeking medical supplies. The ICRC responded quickly and by early the next day succeeded in getting a Swiss relief plane with medical supplies and delegates, and continued this shuttle service until the airport was closed on 1 November The League of Red Cross Societies set up an office in Vienna's Hotel Wandl, opposite the Austrian Red Cross.

Henrik Beer was the League's chief delegate and worked night and day during the rapidly evolving first stage. The Hungarian operation fell into two phases. First there was the brief, but bloody,period of fighting. Second there was a massive exodus of refugees from the country into Austria and Yugoslavia. Thirty thousands tonnes of medical supplies,food, fuel and household supplies were sent regularly by road and Danube barges, into Hungary. Henrik Beer played a pivotal role in coordinating the League's relief operation (Thanks to Beyond Conflict The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1994. Reid and Gilbo. IFRC 1997)

WE WANT MORE BEER

It must have been 1974, when I was working in Vietnam, that I heard Henrik Beer was visiting New Zealand. At that juncture in history, New Zealand was listed as second in the World in beer consumption, just a tad behind Denmark.

Henrik Beer's visit to New Zealand was a resounding success after productive meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, meeting volunteers and the staff at HQ of the New Zealand Red Cross, and reaching out to beneficiaries of New Zealand Red Cross programmes.

Some months after he left, I received the monthly edition of the New Zealand Red Cross News with the headlines WE WANT MORE BEER

And the New Zealand Red Cross indeed got more of Henrik Beer through his constant leadership, guidance and the deep interest he took in our national society. Many of us who knew Henrik Beer, came to work for him in Geneva and in the field, and we couldn't get enough of Henrik. Henrik Beer.

Henrik Beer in New York, 20 January 1962

League Chairman John McAulay (right), Secretary General Henrik Beer (left) and UN Secretary General U Thant in New York 20 January 1962

Quote from Henrik Beer

An extract from the paper Significance of the World Network of Organisations by Alexander Szali. The Future of International Organisation, New York, UNITAR, 1970

This is clearly recognized in one field as shown by the following extract from a speech by Henrik Beer, Secretary General of the League of Red Cross Societies, at the 15th International Conference on Social Welfare:

One of the most important trends in the field of international voluntary service in recent years has been the recognition that social development cannot be pried loose from economic and political development and that the work of volunteer organizations cannot be isolated from other aspects of social work Prognostics for voluntary service must be seen as part of a whole. It is already outmoded to look on community social services as an entity in itself: it is part of a socio-economic whole...

Henrik Beer - Secretary General of the League of Red Cross Societies. 1960-1981