The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mr Jakob Kellenberger, begins a visit to Dublin today.
Mr Kellenberger will meet the President, Mrs McAleese, at Áras an Uachtaráin and also the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, with other Government officials.
Mr Kellenberger said the support of the Republic for the work of the ICRC, an independent humanitarian organisation, had increased over the years.
The support included financial contributions and political support for the promotion and strengthening of international humanitarian law.
The aim of his talks in Dublin was to thank the Republic for its support; and, based on an analysis of the conflict situation in the world and the challenges facing the ICRC, to ensure continued and if possible increased support, he said.
Ireland with its humanitarian tradition could play a particularly important role when it came to keeping "forgotten" crises on the agenda, and when political support for respect for international humanitarian law was needed, Mr Kellenberger said.
While on his visit, Mr Kellenberger is expected to stress that the conflict situation is not likely to improve substantially in 2003.
The ICRC is preparing an assistance programme for about one million people suffering from famine in an area affected by conflicts.
He will emphasise three main challenges facing the ICRC this year.
These are to ensure access to all victims of armed conflicts under reasonable security conditions; ensure better respect for the rules of international humanitarian law which continue to be violated daily; and to maintain the independence of ICRC's humanitarian action in environments with an increasing number of parties having different rules of engagement.