“World Day of the Red Cross and Red Crescent” – is marked the birthday of the founder of the International Red Cross Movement (today also of the Red Crescent), the Swiss Henry Dunant, laureate, together with the French Frédéric Passy, of the Nobel Peace Prize on 1901.
In Constanța, the Red Cross branch is very active and involved in community life. He opened a social shop and a medical center that serve Ukrainian refugees, but also the needy.
Every year, May 8th is marked around the world as World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. The day was established in 1859 by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was born in 1859, at the initiative of Henry Dunant (1828-1910), a Swiss businessman, after one of the bloodiest battles of the century, the Battle of Solferino, which made 40,000 victims. On June 24, 1859, Henry Dunant had come to northern Italy to meet Napoleon III on business. Deeply impressed by the scene after the battle, he gathered people from the neighboring village and for three days, without interruption, cared for the wounded. His words – “Siamo tutti fratelli” (We are all brothers) – opened the hearts of the volunteers, who took care of enemies and compatriots alike.
In 1862, Henry Dunant wrote the book “A memory from Solferino”, in which he drew the world’s attention to the need to establish aid societies and to promote an international agreement on helping the wounded and the people who care for them. Thanks to this book, Henry Dunant managed to convey his ideas among the European rulers and influential people of that time. Thus, in 1863, a commission met for the first time which called itself the International Committee for the Aid of the Wounded and which, in 1876, was to become the International Committee of the Red Cross. Twelve heads of state then signed the first Geneva Convention. It was also then that the emblem of a red cross on a white background was adopted (the reverse of the Swiss flag – white cross on a red background), with the aim of conferring neutral status on those assisting the wounded and, thus, ensuring their protection on the battlefield.
The Red Crescent was adopted at the 1929 Convention, for reasons that take into account the religion of certain peoples in different countries. Considering that there are countries where neither the red cross nor the red crescent could be used, because they are not accepted by the local population also for religious reasons, in 2005, the states adopted a new symbol of protection – the Red Crystal (rhombus) .
Currently, the use of the emblem is governed by the “Regulation regarding the use of the red cross and red crescent emblems by National Societies”. This regulation, adopted in Budapest in November 1991, entered into force in 1992.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the largest humanitarian organization in the world that provides assistance to vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity.
In May 1919, representatives of the Red Cross Societies of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan met to formally establish the League of Red Cross Societies, which was the predecessor of the International Federation. Its objective was to “consolidate and unite, in the field of health, the existing Red Cross Societies and to promote the creation of new Societies”.
Currently, the Federation has 192 member Societies, over 13.7 million volunteers and more than 150 million beneficiaries.
In the view of the Red Cross, a principle is a mandatory rule of conduct, based on reason and experience, that governs the activity of all components of the Movement, at all times. There are seven fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement:
– Humanity – Born from the concern to help, without discrimination, the wounded on the battlefields, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, under its international and national aspect, is committed to preventing and alleviating human suffering in any circumstance;
– Impartiality – The movement makes no distinction of nationality, race, religion, social origin or political affiliation. It dedicates itself only to helping individuals according to their sufferings and gives priority help to the most urgent misfortunes;
– Neutrality – In order to maintain everyone’s trust, the Movement refrains from taking part in political, racial, religious or ideological hostilities and controversies;
– Independence – The movement is independent. Auxiliaries of the public authorities in their humanitarian activities and subject to the laws that govern their countries, the National Societies must preserve an autonomy that allows them to always act only according to the fundamental principles of the movement;
– Volunteering – It is a movement of voluntary and selfless help;
– Unity – There can only be one National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in a country. It must be open to everyone and extend its humanitarian actions throughout the country;
– Universality – The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all National Societies have equal rights and the duty to help each other, is universal.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) leads and organizes, in close cooperation with the National Societies, the assistance missions that respond to large-scale emergency situations. The International Secretariat of the Federation is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2020 and 2021, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement channeled its efforts to help vulnerable people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and to facilitate their vaccination.
“Covid-19 affects everyone equally, but migrants and displaced people, the homeless and those in disaster-prone areas are among the most vulnerable to infection, the least able to access healthcare and the most affected by loss of income. They must not be forgotten. We need to strengthen support for our Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers, who are on the front line of this response”, says the president of the federation, Francesco Rocca.
Editor: Cecilia Pătrăhău / Online editor: Doina Sîrbu / Source: Radio Romania / Photo: wikipedia.org
