THE Seychelles maybe a small Nation, but it has over the years produced many outstanding personalities, even on the world stage. In order to eternalize Seychellois achievers, present and past, Mahé Publications Ltd over recent years published two books – (i) ‘Who’s Who in Seychelles’ and (ii) ‘Seychelles Personalities of Yesterday’.

In the same spirit which motivated Seychelles Founding President, James R. Mancham to launch these publications, the Seychelles Review will in future aim at highlighting some Seychellois who at this time occupy prominent positions within the international community.

In this issue, we applaud Mr Chrystold Chetty, who is currently Chairman of the Finance Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies. Chrystold Chetty of Mare Anglaise, Mahe, Seychelles, was born on the 31st July, 1960. After studying at the Seychelles College, he attended the University of Quebec in Canada where he obtained a degree in Business Management. His professional activities have been widespread and cover high level position including position of Director General of Trade and Commerce within the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Seychelles.

Mr Chetty has been a member of the Board of Directors of numerous Seychelles Companies, including Excel Trading Ltd; Premier Investment Ltd; Development Bank of Seychelles; State Assurance Corporation Fund. He has also an excellent record in fundraising activities. His association with the Red Cross Movement started in 1989 when he founded and became President of the Red Cross Society of Seychelles.

Since then, his activities with the Red Cross have brought him first regional recognition through which his financial management qualities became more and more noted by those who run the international organization in Geneva.

At the moment, Mr Chetty is Chairman of the Finance Commission of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent; a member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and a member of the high-level group for the constitutional review of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.

An extremely well-travelled person, Mr Chetty, today holds an impressive collection of honorary distinctions which include being Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of Seychelles; Recipient of the Honorary Medal of Augusto Pino of the Venezuelan Red Cross; Recipient of the Honorary Medal of the French Red Cross; Paul Harris Fellowship of Rotary International and Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Ivato in Madagascar.

It is to be noted that the Red Cross was born against a background of Geneva Conventions of 1949, and is guided by the following fundamental principles:- Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is the humanitarian organization in the world with an estimated number of over 100 million volunteers, and present in 185 countries of the world.

The programme income budget of the Federation for the year 2006 was CHF 387 million. However, large scale emergencies like the Tsunami add heavily to the income budget. The Federation as a whole for example manages a CHF 2 billion programme until the year 2010 plus other programmes which are managed on a bilateral basis by member National Societies. The Tsunami has been one of the biggest challenges to the Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in the past decade.

The Finance of the Federation has greatly improved since 2005 due certain factors including the tsunami, active collection of arrears of statutory contributions and better financial management. Te reserves have increased from CHF 9 million at the start of 2005 to CHF 71 million at the end of 2006.