Unexpected crises in the Middle East and Africa, together with armed conflicts around the world, have made it imperative, aid agencies react more quickly to help the needy, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday.

“The speed and scale of the events of 2011, and the massive humanitarian needs that arose, set major challenges for an effective and timely response,” ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger said in Geneva.

Mr Kellenberger, who is standing down as head of the humanitarian agency in July after 12 years in charge, added that the ICRC’s “impartial, neutral and independent approach” had been put to the test in 2011.

But he said that the value of the ICRC was demonstrated by its “flexible, rapid and relevant response” and almost exclusive involvement in the Syrian humanitarian effort.

“In Syria, even now, together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, we are still the only international organisation working on the ground in connection with the fighting,” said Mr Kellenberger, as the ICRC released its annual report.

In Libya, “we had staff on the spot within days” after the crisis erupted, he said.

In the ICRC report, “key humanitarian actors” are criticised because they “had lost the ability to respond during emergency phases in armed conflicts”.

While security concerns played a part in hampering the work of UN aid agencies, the report points to the “contradictory approaches” sent by non-government organisations, some of which request military protection to reach victims and some which do not.

In 2011, the report said, the ICRC helped 6.8 million people around the world in more than 80 countries. Some 4.9 million people also received food aid.

The ICRC’s operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel and the occupied territories and Yemen – all protracted situations of violence – were also among the ICRC’s largest in 2011, along with those in Libya.