Green: The Red Crescent
85-550: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement , the world's largest group of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian aid , is composed of the following bodies: The data of the members of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies can be found on the Federation-wide Databank and Reporting System (FDRS). It provides data insights on the world's largest humanitarian network of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around
170-484: A book entitled A Memory of Solferino , which he published using his own money in 1862. He sent copies of the book to leading political and military figures throughout Europe, and people he thought could help him make a change. His book included vivid descriptions of his experiences in Solferino in 1859, and he explicitly advocated the formation of national voluntary relief organizations to help nurse wounded soldiers in
255-413: A copy of Dunant's book and introduced it for discussion at a meeting of that society. As a result of this initial discussion, the society established an investigatory commission to examine the feasibility of Dunant's suggestions and eventually to organize an international conference about their possible implementation. The members of this committee, which has subsequently been referred to as the "Committee of
340-529: A documentary entitled A Visitor from the Living . On 12 March 1945, ICRC president Jacob Burckhardt received a message from SS General Ernst Kaltenbrunner allowing ICRC delegates to visit the concentration camps. This agreement was bound by the condition that these delegates would have to stay in the camps until the end of the war. Ten delegates, among them Louis Haefliger ( Mauthausen-Gusen ), Paul Dunant ( Theresienstadt ), and Victor Maurer ( Dachau ) accepted
425-570: A draft proposal for an additional convention for the protection of the civil population in occupied territories during an armed conflict was adopted by the International Red Cross Conference. Unfortunately, most governments had little interest in implementing this convention, and it was thus prevented from entering into force before the beginning of World War II . The Red Cross' response to the Holocaust has been
510-532: A member and secretary. He was charged with fraudulent bankruptcy and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Thus, he was forced to leave Geneva and never returned to his home city. In the following years, national societies were founded in nearly every country in Europe. The project resonated well with patriotic sentiments that were on the rise in the late-nineteenth-century, and national societies were often encouraged as signifiers of national moral superiority. In 1876,
595-665: A neutral, independent and exclusively humanitarian mandate during such escalations of violence in the Middle East and urged all parties to protect the lives of civilians, to reduce their suffering and protect their dignity. During the violent conflict, the ICRC and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) provided hospitals in the Gaza strip with support through large humanitarian convoys from Egypt , and
680-512: A possible rivalry between the two organizations. The foundation of the League was seen as an attempt to undermine the leadership position of the ICRC within the movement and to gradually transfer most of its tasks and competencies to a multilateral institution. In addition to that, all founding members of the League were national societies from countries of the Entente or from associated partners of
765-550: A tribute to his key role in the formation of the Red Cross. Dunant died nine years later in the small Swiss health resort of Heiden . Only two months earlier his long-standing adversary Gustave Moynier had also died, leaving a mark in the history of the committee as its longest-serving president ever. In 1906, the 1864 Geneva Convention was revised for the first time. One year later, the Hague Convention X , adopted at
850-4035: The [REDACTED] Cook Islands [REDACTED] Costa Rica [ es ] [REDACTED] Côte d'Ivoire [REDACTED] Croatia [REDACTED] Cuba [ es ] [REDACTED] Cyprus [REDACTED] Czech Republic [REDACTED] Denmark [REDACTED] Djibouti [REDACTED] Dominica [REDACTED] Dominican Republic [REDACTED] Ecuador [ es ] [REDACTED] Egypt [REDACTED] El Salvador [REDACTED] Equatorial Guinea [REDACTED] Eritrea [REDACTED] Estonia [REDACTED] Eswatini [REDACTED] Ethiopia [REDACTED] Fiji [REDACTED] Finland [REDACTED] France [REDACTED] Gabon [REDACTED] Gambia [REDACTED] Georgia [REDACTED] Germany [REDACTED] Ghana [REDACTED] Greece [REDACTED] Grenada [REDACTED] Guatemala [REDACTED] Guinea [REDACTED] Guinea-Bissau [REDACTED] Guyana [REDACTED] Haiti [REDACTED] Honduras [REDACTED] Hungary [REDACTED] Iceland [REDACTED] India [REDACTED] Indonesia [REDACTED] Iran [REDACTED] Iraq [REDACTED] Ireland [REDACTED] Israel [REDACTED] Italy [REDACTED] Jamaica [REDACTED] Japan [REDACTED] Jordan [REDACTED] Kazakhstan [REDACTED] Kenya [REDACTED] Kiribati [REDACTED] Korea, North [REDACTED] Korea, South [REDACTED] Kuwait [REDACTED] Kyrgyzstan [REDACTED] Laos [REDACTED] Latvia [REDACTED] Lebanon [REDACTED] Lesotho [REDACTED] Liberia [REDACTED] Libya [REDACTED] Liechtenstein [REDACTED] Lithuania [REDACTED] Luxembourg [REDACTED] Madagascar [REDACTED] Malawi [REDACTED] Malaysia [REDACTED] Maldives [REDACTED] Mali [REDACTED] Malta [REDACTED] Marshall Islands [REDACTED] Mauritania [REDACTED] Mauritius [REDACTED] Mexico [REDACTED] Micronesia, Federated States of [REDACTED] Moldova [REDACTED] Monaco [REDACTED] Mongolia [REDACTED] Montenegro [REDACTED] Morocco [REDACTED] Mozambique [REDACTED] Myanmar [REDACTED] Namibia [REDACTED] Nepal [REDACTED] Netherlands [REDACTED] New Zealand [REDACTED] Nicaragua [REDACTED] Niger [REDACTED] Nigeria [REDACTED] North Macedonia [REDACTED] Norway [REDACTED] Pakistan [REDACTED] Palau [REDACTED] Palestine [REDACTED] Panama [REDACTED] Papua New Guinea [REDACTED] Paraguay [REDACTED] Peru (suspended) [REDACTED] Philippines [REDACTED] Poland [REDACTED] Portugal [ pt ] [REDACTED] Qatar [REDACTED] Republika Srpska [REDACTED] Romania [REDACTED] Russia [REDACTED] Rwanda [REDACTED] Saint Kitts and Nevis [REDACTED] Saint Lucia [REDACTED] Saint Vincent and
935-4035: The [REDACTED] Cook Islands [REDACTED] Costa Rica [ es ] [REDACTED] Côte d'Ivoire [REDACTED] Croatia [REDACTED] Cuba [ es ] [REDACTED] Cyprus [REDACTED] Czech Republic [REDACTED] Denmark [REDACTED] Djibouti [REDACTED] Dominica [REDACTED] Dominican Republic [REDACTED] Ecuador [ es ] [REDACTED] Egypt [REDACTED] El Salvador [REDACTED] Equatorial Guinea [REDACTED] Eritrea [REDACTED] Estonia [REDACTED] Eswatini [REDACTED] Ethiopia [REDACTED] Fiji [REDACTED] Finland [REDACTED] France [REDACTED] Gabon [REDACTED] Gambia [REDACTED] Georgia [REDACTED] Germany [REDACTED] Ghana [REDACTED] Greece [REDACTED] Grenada [REDACTED] Guatemala [REDACTED] Guinea [REDACTED] Guinea-Bissau [REDACTED] Guyana [REDACTED] Haiti [REDACTED] Honduras [REDACTED] Hungary [REDACTED] Iceland [REDACTED] India [REDACTED] Indonesia [REDACTED] Iran [REDACTED] Iraq [REDACTED] Ireland [REDACTED] Israel [REDACTED] Italy [REDACTED] Jamaica [REDACTED] Japan [REDACTED] Jordan [REDACTED] Kazakhstan [REDACTED] Kenya [REDACTED] Kiribati [REDACTED] Korea, North [REDACTED] Korea, South [REDACTED] Kuwait [REDACTED] Kyrgyzstan [REDACTED] Laos [REDACTED] Latvia [REDACTED] Lebanon [REDACTED] Lesotho [REDACTED] Liberia [REDACTED] Libya [REDACTED] Liechtenstein [REDACTED] Lithuania [REDACTED] Luxembourg [REDACTED] Madagascar [REDACTED] Malawi [REDACTED] Malaysia [REDACTED] Maldives [REDACTED] Mali [REDACTED] Malta [REDACTED] Marshall Islands [REDACTED] Mauritania [REDACTED] Mauritius [REDACTED] Mexico [REDACTED] Micronesia, Federated States of [REDACTED] Moldova [REDACTED] Monaco [REDACTED] Mongolia [REDACTED] Montenegro [REDACTED] Morocco [REDACTED] Mozambique [REDACTED] Myanmar [REDACTED] Namibia [REDACTED] Nepal [REDACTED] Netherlands [REDACTED] New Zealand [REDACTED] Nicaragua [REDACTED] Niger [REDACTED] Nigeria [REDACTED] North Macedonia [REDACTED] Norway [REDACTED] Pakistan [REDACTED] Palau [REDACTED] Palestine [REDACTED] Panama [REDACTED] Papua New Guinea [REDACTED] Paraguay [REDACTED] Peru (suspended) [REDACTED] Philippines [REDACTED] Poland [REDACTED] Portugal [ pt ] [REDACTED] Qatar [REDACTED] Republika Srpska [REDACTED] Romania [REDACTED] Russia [REDACTED] Rwanda [REDACTED] Saint Kitts and Nevis [REDACTED] Saint Lucia [REDACTED] Saint Vincent and
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#17327651011831020-455: The 2023 Israel–Hamas war Israeli authorities required Palestinian ambulances to undergo thorough searches when passing through checkpoints, saying the policy was driven by Palestinian organizations using ambulances to transport terrorists and armaments. The Israeli Ministry of Health said that: "The Red Crescent closely cooperated with the MDA ( Magen David Adom ) until April 2002. At that time,
1105-581: The Geneva Conventions of the 1907 revision and forwarded complaints about violations to the respective country. When chemical weapons were used in this war for the first time in history, the ICRC mounted a vigorous protest against their use. Even without having a mandate from the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC tried to ameliorate the suffering of civil populations. In territories that were officially designated as "occupied territories",
1190-510: The International Committee of the Red Cross adopted a change in its policy regarding the selection of new members. Until then, only citizens from the city of Geneva could serve in the committee. This limitation was expanded to include all Swiss citizens. As a direct consequence of World War I, a treaty was adopted in 1925 which outlawed the use of suffocating or poisonous gases and biological agents as weapons. Four years later,
1275-596: The Italian Red Cross ) International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Blue: The Red Star of David (The Red Crystal outside of Israel) Maroon: Red Cross Society that is not part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16 million volunteers , members, and staff worldwide. It
1360-577: The RCSC ) [REDACTED] Kosovo (non-member) [REDACTED] Macau (autonomous branch of the RCSC ) [REDACTED] Oman (non-member) [REDACTED] Ossetia, South (non-member) [REDACTED] SADR (pending recognition and admission) [REDACTED] Somaliland (non-member) [REDACTED] Taiwan (former member) [REDACTED] Transnistria (non-member) [REDACTED] Vatican City (autonomous branch of
1445-527: The RCSC ) [REDACTED] Kosovo (non-member) [REDACTED] Macau (autonomous branch of the RCSC ) [REDACTED] Oman (non-member) [REDACTED] Ossetia, South (non-member) [REDACTED] SADR (pending recognition and admission) [REDACTED] Somaliland (non-member) [REDACTED] Taiwan (former member) [REDACTED] Transnistria (non-member) [REDACTED] Vatican City (autonomous branch of
1530-549: The Russian Red Cross Society and later the society of the Soviet Union , constantly emphasizing the ICRC's neutrality. In 1928, the "International Council" was founded to coordinate cooperation between the ICRC and the League, a task which was later taken over by the "Standing Commission". In the same year, a common statute for the movement was adopted for the first time, defining the respective roles of
1615-642: The UN General Assembly granted the ICRC observer status for its assembly sessions and sub-committee meetings, the first observer status given to a private organization. The resolution was jointly proposed by 138 member states and introduced by the Italian ambassador, in memory of the organization's origins in the Battle of Solferino. An agreement with the Swiss government signed on 19 March 1993 affirmed
1700-862: The United States of Brazil , the Republic of Chile , the Republic of Cuba , the United Mexican States , the Republic of Peru , the Republic of El Salvador , the Oriental Republic of Uruguay , the United States of Venezuela ), Asia (the Republic of China , the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Siam ), and Africa ( Union of South Africa ). With the outbreak of World War I , the ICRC found itself confronted with enormous challenges that it could handle only by working closely with
1785-473: The 1923 earthquake in Japan which killed about 200,000 people and left countless more wounded and without shelter. Due to the League's coordination, the Red Cross society of Japan received goods from its sister societies reaching a total worth of about $ 100 million. Another important new field initiated by the League was the creation of youth Red Cross organizations within the national societies. A joint mission of
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#17327651011831870-621: The Agency accumulated about 7 million records from 1914 to 1923. The card index led to the identification of about 2 million POWs and the ability to contact their families. The complete index is on loan today from the ICRC to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva. The right to access the index is still strictly restricted to the ICRC. During the entire war, the ICRC monitored warring parties' compliance with
1955-572: The Entente. The original statutes of the League from May 1919 contained further regulations which gave the five founding societies a privileged status and, due to the efforts of Henry Davison, the right to permanently exclude the national Red Cross societies from the countries of the Central Powers , namely Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, and in addition to that the national Red Cross society of Russia. These rules were contrary to
2040-519: The Five", aside from Dunant and Moynier were physician Louis Appia , who had significant experience working as a field surgeon; Appia's friend and colleague Théodore Maunoir , from the Geneva Hygiene and Health Commission; and Guillaume-Henri Dufour , a Swiss army general of great renown. Eight days later, the five men decided to rename the committee to the "International Committee for Relief to
2125-583: The German states. These regional branches trace their origins back to the former independent members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Examples include the Badisches Rotes Kreuz, Bayerisches Rotes Kreuz, and the regional associations of Bremen, Hamburg, Oldenburg, Hesse, and Berlin. Some current subdivisions are direct continuations of these earlier organizations, while others resulted from mergers or divisions of
2210-2003: The Grenadines [REDACTED] Samoa [REDACTED] San Marino [REDACTED] São Tomé and Príncipe [REDACTED] Saudi Arabia [REDACTED] Senegal [REDACTED] Serbia [REDACTED] Seychelles [REDACTED] Sierra Leone [REDACTED] Singapore [REDACTED] Slovakia [REDACTED] Slovenia [REDACTED] Solomon Islands [REDACTED] Somalia [REDACTED] South Africa [REDACTED] South Sudan [REDACTED] Spain [REDACTED] Sri Lanka [REDACTED] Sudan [REDACTED] Suriname [REDACTED] Sweden [REDACTED] Switzerland [REDACTED] Syria [REDACTED] Taiwan (Republic of China) [REDACTED] Tajikistan [REDACTED] Tanzania [REDACTED] Thailand [REDACTED] Timor-Leste [REDACTED] Togo [REDACTED] Tonga [REDACTED] Trinidad and Tobago [REDACTED] Tunisia [REDACTED] Turkey [REDACTED] Turkmenistan [REDACTED] Tuvalu [REDACTED] Uganda [REDACTED] Ukraine [REDACTED] United Arab Emirates [REDACTED] United Kingdom [REDACTED] United States [REDACTED] Uruguay [REDACTED] Uzbekistan [REDACTED] Vanuatu [REDACTED] Venezuela [REDACTED] Viet Nam [REDACTED] Yemen [REDACTED] Zambia [REDACTED] Zimbabwe [REDACTED] Abkhazia (no-member) [REDACTED] Cyprus, North (non-member) [REDACTED] Hong Kong (autonomous branch of
2295-1944: The Grenadines [REDACTED] Samoa [REDACTED] San Marino [REDACTED] São Tomé and Príncipe [REDACTED] Saudi Arabia [REDACTED] Senegal [REDACTED] Serbia [REDACTED] Seychelles [REDACTED] Sierra Leone [REDACTED] Singapore [REDACTED] Slovakia [REDACTED] Slovenia [REDACTED] Solomon Islands [REDACTED] Somalia [REDACTED] South Africa [REDACTED] South Sudan [REDACTED] Spain [REDACTED] Sri Lanka [REDACTED] Sudan [REDACTED] Suriname [REDACTED] Sweden [REDACTED] Switzerland [REDACTED] Syria [REDACTED] Taiwan (Republic of China) [REDACTED] Tajikistan [REDACTED] Tanzania [REDACTED] Thailand [REDACTED] Timor-Leste [REDACTED] Togo [REDACTED] Tonga [REDACTED] Trinidad and Tobago [REDACTED] Tunisia [REDACTED] Turkey [REDACTED] Turkmenistan [REDACTED] Tuvalu [REDACTED] Uganda [REDACTED] Ukraine [REDACTED] United Arab Emirates [REDACTED] United Kingdom [REDACTED] United States [REDACTED] Uruguay [REDACTED] Uzbekistan [REDACTED] Vanuatu [REDACTED] Venezuela [REDACTED] Viet Nam [REDACTED] Yemen [REDACTED] Zambia [REDACTED] Zimbabwe [REDACTED] Abkhazia (no-member) [REDACTED] Cyprus, North (non-member) [REDACTED] Hong Kong (autonomous branch of
2380-449: The ICRC achieved permission to send parcels to concentration camp detainees with known names and locations. Because the notices of receipt for these parcels were often signed by other inmates, the ICRC managed to register the identities of about 105,000 detainees in the concentration camps and delivered about 1.1 million parcels, primarily to the concentration camps Dachau , Buchenwald , Ravensbrück , and Sachsenhausen . Maurice Rossel
2465-497: The ICRC and the League in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922 marked the first time the movement was involved in an internal conflict, although still without an explicit mandate from the Geneva Conventions. The League, with support from more than 25 national societies, organized assistance missions and the distribution of food and other aid goods for civil populations affected by hunger and disease. The ICRC worked with
2550-488: The ICRC and the League within the movement. During the Abyssinian war between Ethiopia and Italy from 1935 to 1936, the League contributed aid supplies worth about 1.7 million Swiss francs. Because the Italian fascist regime under Benito Mussolini refused any cooperation with the Red Cross, these goods were delivered solely to Ethiopia. During the war, an estimated 29 people died while being under explicit protection of
2635-513: The ICRC could assist the civilian population on the basis of the Hague Convention 's "Laws and Customs of War on Land" of 1907. This convention was also the legal basis for the ICRC's work for prisoners of war. In addition to the work of the International Prisoner-of-War Agency as described above, this included inspection visits to POW camps. A total of 524 camps throughout Europe were visited by 41 delegates from
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2720-569: The ICRC decided to remain in the country to continue its mission to assist and protect victims of conflict. Since June 2021, ICRC-supported facilities have treated more than 40,000 people wounded during armed confrontations there. Among the ten largest ICRC deployments worldwide has been the mission in Ukraine , where the organization has been active since 2014, working closely with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society . At first,
2805-467: The ICRC through the end of the war. Between 1916 and 1918, the ICRC published a number of postcards with scenes from the POW camps. The pictures showed the prisoners in day-to-day activities such as the distribution of letters from home. The intention of the ICRC was to provide the families of the prisoners with some hope and solace and to alleviate their uncertainties about the fate of their loved ones. After
2890-572: The ICRC was active primarily in the disputed regions of Donbas and Donetsk , assisting persons injured by armed confrontations there. When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022 , the fighting moved to more populated areas in East, North, and South Ukraine. The head of the ICRC delegation in Kyiv warned on 26 February 2022 that neighborhoods of major cities were becoming the frontline with significant consequences for their populations, including children,
2975-506: The IDF claimed that Red Crescent ambulances were being used to carry terrorists. The Red Crescent personnel involved in this violation were interrogated." In October 2023, the ICRC responded to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians. The ICRC has called the violence "abhorrent" and implored both sides to reduce the suffering of civilians. The ICRC, working closely with their Red Crescent partners, has
3060-587: The International Committee. The states and kingdoms represented by official delegates were: Austrian Empire , Grand Duchy of Baden , Kingdom of Bavaria , French Empire , Kingdom of Hanover , Grand Duchy of Hesse , Kingdom of Italy , Kingdom of the Netherlands , Kingdom of Prussia , Russian Empire , Kingdom of Saxony , Kingdom of Spain , United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway , and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Among
3145-540: The League of Nations "High Commissioner for Refugees". Nansen, who invented the Nansen passport for stateless refugees and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922, appointed two delegates from the ICRC as his deputies. A year before the end of the war, the ICRC received the 1917 Nobel Peace Prize for its outstanding wartime work. It was the only Nobel Peace Prize awarded in the period from 1914 to 1918. In 1923,
3230-640: The Nursing of the War Wounded was convened. Also in 1867, Jean-Henri Dunant was forced to declare bankruptcy due to business failures in Algeria , partly because he had neglected his business interests during his tireless activities for the International Committee. The controversy surrounding Dunant's business dealings and the resulting negative public opinion, combined with an ongoing conflict with Gustave Moynier, led to Dunant's expulsion from his position as
3315-1862: The Red Cross in the period from 1910 to 1912. In 1912, the physician Marie Rennotte founded the branch for the state of São Paulo . By 1919, the organization had joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies . [REDACTED] Afghanistan [REDACTED] Albania [REDACTED] Algeria [REDACTED] Andorra [REDACTED] Angola [REDACTED] Antigua and Barbuda [REDACTED] Argentina [REDACTED] Armenia [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] Austria [REDACTED] Azerbaijan [REDACTED] The Bahamas [REDACTED] Bahrain [REDACTED] Bangladesh [REDACTED] Barbados [REDACTED] Belarus (suspended) [REDACTED] Belgium [REDACTED] Belize [REDACTED] Benin [REDACTED] Bhutan [REDACTED] Bolivia [REDACTED] Bosnia and Herzegovina [REDACTED] Botswana [REDACTED] Brazil [REDACTED] Brunei [REDACTED] Bulgaria [REDACTED] Burkina Faso [REDACTED] Burundi [REDACTED] Cambodia [REDACTED] Cameroon [REDACTED] Canada [REDACTED] Cape Verde [REDACTED] Central African Republic [REDACTED] Chad [REDACTED] Chile [ es ] [REDACTED] China [REDACTED] Colombia [REDACTED] Comoros [REDACTED] Congo [ it ] [REDACTED] Congo, Democratic Republic of
3400-489: The Red Cross principles of universality and equality among all national societies, a situation which furthered the concerns of the ICRC. The first relief assistance mission organized by the League was an aid mission for the victims of a famine and subsequent typhus epidemic in Poland. Only five years after its foundation, the League had already issued 47 donation appeals for missions in 34 countries, an impressive indication of
3485-649: The Red Cross symbol, most of them due to attacks by the Italian Army. During the civil war in Spain from 1936 to 1939 the League once again joined forces with the ICRC with the support of 41 national societies. In 1939 on the brink of the Second World War, the League relocated its headquarters from Paris to Geneva to take advantage of Swiss neutrality. Brazilian Red Cross The Brazilian Red Cross ( Brazilian Portuguese : Cruz Vermelha Brasileira )
List of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - Misplaced Pages Continue
3570-743: The Second International Peace Conference in The Hague , extended the scope of the Geneva Convention to naval warfare. Shortly before the beginning of the First World War in 1914, 50 years after the foundation of the ICRC and the adoption of the first Geneva Convention, there were already 45 national relief societies throughout the world. The movement had extended itself beyond Europe and North America to Central and South America ( Argentine Republic ,
3655-466: The Wounded". From 26 to 29 October 1863, the international conference organized by the committee was held in Geneva to develop possible measures to improve medical services on the battlefield. The conference was attended by 36 individuals: eighteen official delegates from national governments, six delegates from non-governmental organizations, seven non-official foreign delegates, and the five members of
3740-494: The additional protocols of 8 June 1977 were intended to make the conventions apply to internal conflicts such as civil wars. Today, the four conventions and their added protocols contain more than 600 articles, while there were only 10 articles in the first 1864 convention. In celebration of its centennial in 1963, the ICRC, together with the League of Red Cross Societies , received its third Nobel Peace Prize. On 16 October 1990,
3825-505: The already long-standing policy of full independence of the committee from any interference by Switzerland. The agreement protects the full sanctity of all ICRC property in Switzerland including its headquarters and archive, grants members and staff legal immunity, exempts the ICRC from all taxes and fees, guarantees the protected and duty-free transfer of goods, services, and money, provides the ICRC with secure communication privileges at
3910-656: The armed opposition. They regularly visit detainees under the custody of the Afghan government and the international armed forces, but have also occasionally had access since 2009 to people detained by the Taliban . They have provided basic first aid training and aid kits to both the Afghan security forces and Taliban members because, according to an ICRC spokesperson, "ICRC's constitution stipulates that all parties harmed by warfare will be treated as fairly as possible". In August 2021, when NATO -led forces retreated from Afghanistan,
3995-522: The assignment and visited the camps. Louis Haefliger prevented the forceful eviction or blasting of Mauthausen-Gusen by alerting American troops. Friedrich Born (1903–1963), an ICRC delegate in Budapest who saved the lives of about 11,000 to 15,000 Jewish people in Hungary . Marcel Junod (1904–1961), a physician from Geneva was one of the first foreigners to visit Hiroshima after the atomic bomb
4080-493: The battle, the suffering of the wounded soldiers, and the near-total lack of medical attendance and basic care. He completely abandoned the original intent of his trip and for several days he devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care of the wounded. He took part in organizing an overwhelming level of relief assistance with the local villagers to aid without discrimination. Back at his home in Geneva , he decided to write
4165-466: The case of war, inspired by Christian teaching regarding social responsibility and his experience after the battlefield of Solferino. He called for the development of an international treaty to guarantee the protection of medics and field hospitals for soldiers wounded on the battlefield. In 1863, Gustave Moynier , a Geneva lawyer and president of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, received
4250-491: The center of Jerusalem outside a shoe store on the busy main shopping street Jaffa Road . The explosion she caused killed her and Pinhas Tokatli (81), and injured more than 100 others. In the 2000s, the ICRC has been active in the Afghanistan conflict areas and has set up six physical rehabilitation centers to help land mine victims. Their support extends to the national and international armed forces, civilians and
4335-519: The committee adopted the name "International Committee of the Red Cross" (ICRC), which is still its official designation today. Five years later, the American Red Cross was founded through the efforts of Clara Barton . More and more countries signed the Geneva Convention and began to respect it in practice during armed conflicts. In a rather short period of time, the Red Cross gained huge momentum as an internationally respected movement, and
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#17327651011834420-458: The conventions. During the war, the ICRC was unable to obtain an agreement with Nazi Germany about the treatment of detainees in concentration camps , and the ICRC eventually abandoned applying pressure, saying later it did so in order to avoid disrupting its work with POWs. The ICRC was also unable to obtain a response to reliable information about the extermination camps and the mass killing of European Jews, Roma , et al. After November 1943,
4505-600: The end of the war, between 1920 and 1922, the ICRC organized the return of about 500,000 prisoners to their home countries. In 1920, the task of repatriation was handed over to the newly founded League of Nations , which appointed the Norwegian diplomat and scientist Fridtjof Nansen as its "High Commissioner for Repatriation of the War Prisoners". His legal mandate was later extended to support and care for war refugees and displaced persons when his office became that of
4590-412: The end of the war, the Agency had transferred about 20 million letters and messages, 1.9 million parcels, and about 18 million Swiss francs in monetary donations to POWs of all affected countries. Furthermore, due to the intervention of the Agency, about 200,000 prisoners were exchanged between the warring parties, released from captivity and returned to their home country. The organizational card index of
4675-586: The establishment of the Geneva Convention, the first national societies were founded in Belgium, Denmark, France, Oldenburg , Italy, Prussia, Spain, and Württemberg. Also in 1864, Louis Appia and Charles van de Velde , a captain of the Dutch Army , became the first independent and neutral delegates to work under the symbol of the Red Cross in an armed conflict. The Ottoman government ratified this treaty on 5 July 1865. The Turkish Red Crescent organization
4760-415: The exchange of messages regarding prisoners and missing persons. By the end of the war, 179 delegates had conducted 12,750 visits to POW camps in 41 countries. The Central Information Agency on Prisoners-of-War ( Agence centrale des prisonniers de guerre ) had a staff of 3,000, the card index tracking prisoners contained 45 million cards, and 120 million messages were exchanged by the Agency. One major obstacle
4845-582: The existing two Geneva Conventions were adopted. An additional convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea", now called the second Geneva Convention, was brought under the Geneva Convention umbrella as a successor to the 1907 Hague Convention X . The 1929 Geneva convention "relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War" may have been
4930-543: The first Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field". Representatives of 12 states and kingdoms signed the convention: The convention contained ten articles, establishing for the first time legally binding rules guaranteeing neutrality and protection for wounded soldiers, field medical personnel, and specific humanitarian institutions in an armed conflict. Directly following
5015-1560: The former members. [REDACTED] Afghanistan [REDACTED] Albania [REDACTED] Algeria [REDACTED] Andorra [REDACTED] Angola [REDACTED] Antigua and Barbuda [REDACTED] Argentina [REDACTED] Armenia [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] Austria [REDACTED] Azerbaijan [REDACTED] The Bahamas [REDACTED] Bahrain [REDACTED] Bangladesh [REDACTED] Barbados [REDACTED] Belarus (suspended) [REDACTED] Belgium [REDACTED] Belize [REDACTED] Benin [REDACTED] Bhutan [REDACTED] Bolivia [REDACTED] Bosnia and Herzegovina [REDACTED] Botswana [REDACTED] Brazil [REDACTED] Brunei [REDACTED] Bulgaria [REDACTED] Burkina Faso [REDACTED] Burundi [REDACTED] Cambodia [REDACTED] Cameroon [REDACTED] Canada [REDACTED] Cape Verde [REDACTED] Central African Republic [REDACTED] Chad [REDACTED] Chile [ es ] [REDACTED] China [REDACTED] Colombia [REDACTED] Comoros [REDACTED] Congo [ it ] [REDACTED] Congo, Democratic Republic of
5100-535: The intention of discussing difficulties in conducting business in Algeria , which at that time was occupied by France . He arrived in the small town of Solferino on the evening of 24 June after the Battle of Solferino , an engagement in the Austro-Sardinian War . In a single day, about 40,000 soldiers on both sides died or were left wounded on the field. Dunant was shocked by the terrible aftermath of
5185-602: The national Red Cross societies. Red Cross nurses from around the world, including the United States and Japan, came to support the medical services of the armed forces of the European countries involved in the war. On 15 August 1914, immediately after the start of the war, the ICRC set up its International Prisoners-of-War Agency (IPWA) to trace POWs and to re-establish communications with their respective families. The Austrian writer and pacifist Stefan Zweig described
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#17327651011835270-488: The national societies became increasingly popular as a venue for volunteer work. When the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901, the Norwegian Nobel Committee opted to give it jointly to Jean-Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy , a leading international pacifist . More significant than the honor of the prize itself, this prize marked the overdue rehabilitation of Jean-Henri Dunant and represented
5355-560: The need for this type of Red Cross work. The total sum raised by these appeals reached 685 million Swiss francs, which were used to bring emergency supplies to the victims of famines in Russia, Germany, and Albania; earthquakes in Chile, Persia , Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Turkey; and refugee flows in Greece and Turkey. The first large-scale disaster mission of the League came after
5440-400: The only international rallying point that still remained. Isolated, like stormy petrels , came the first inquiries for missing relatives; then these inquiries themselves became a storm. The letters arrived in sackfuls. Nothing had been prepared for dealing with such an inundation of misery. The Red Cross had no space, no organization, no system, and above all no helpers. However, by the end of
5525-494: The original Convention was revised and the second Geneva Convention "relative to the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea" was established. The events of World War I and the respective activities of the ICRC significantly increased the reputation and authority of the Committee among the international community and led to an extension of its competencies. As early as in 1934,
5610-481: The proposals written in the final resolutions of the conference, adopted on 29 October 1863, were: Only a year later, the Swiss government invited the governments of all European countries, as well as the United States , the Empire of Brazil and the Mexican Empire to attend an official diplomatic conference. Sixteen countries sent a total of 26 delegates to Geneva. On 22 August 1864, the conference adopted
5695-589: The remaining hostages. In 1919, representatives from the national Red Cross societies of Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the US came together in Paris to found the "League of Red Cross Societies" (IFRC). The original idea came from Henry Davison , who was then president of the American Red Cross . This move, led by the American Red Cross, expanded the international activities of the Red Cross movement beyond
5780-427: The same level as foreign embassies, and simplifies Committee travel in and out of Switzerland. At the end of the Cold War , the ICRC's work became more dangerous. In the 1990s, more delegates died than at any point in its history, especially when working in local and internal armed conflicts. These incidents often demonstrated a lack of respect for the rules of the Geneva Conventions and their protection symbols. Among
5865-411: The second Geneva Convention from a historical point of view (because it was actually formulated in Geneva), but after 1949 it came to be called the third Convention because it came later chronologically than the Hague Convention. Reacting to the experience of World War II, the Fourth Geneva Convention , a new Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War", was established. Also,
5950-402: The sick, and elderly. The ICRC urgently called on all parties to the conflict not to forget their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of the civilian population and infrastructure, and respect the dignity of refugees and prisoners of war . In response to events in the conflict, the organisation issued rule of engagement for civilian hackers . Prior to
6035-418: The situation at the Geneva headquarters of the ICRC: Hardly had the first blows been struck when cries of anguish from all lands began to be heard in Switzerland. Thousands who were without news of fathers, husbands, and sons in the battlefields, stretched despairing arms into the void. By hundreds, by thousands, by tens of thousands, letters and telegrams poured into the little House of the Red Cross in Geneva,
6120-471: The slain delegates were: On 27 January 2002, Palestinian Red Crescent volunteer paramedic and suicide bomber Wafa Idris was transported to Jerusalem, Israel, by a Red Crescent ambulance, whose driver was part of the plot, and killed herself while committing the Jaffa Street bombing . Idris, wearing a Red Crescent uniform, detonated a 22-pound (10 kilogram) bomb made up of TNT packed into pipes, in
6205-469: The strict mission of the ICRC to include relief assistance in response to emergency situations which were not caused by war (such as man-made or natural disasters). The ARC already had great disaster relief mission experience extending back to its foundation. The formation of the League, as an additional international Red Cross organization alongside the ICRC, was not without controversy for a number of reasons. The ICRC had, to some extent, valid concerns about
6290-426: The subject of significant controversy and criticism. As early as May 1944, the ICRC was criticized for its indifference to Jewish suffering and death—criticism that intensified after the end of the war, when the full extent of the Holocaust became undeniable. One defense to these allegations is that the Red Cross was trying to preserve its reputation as a neutral and impartial organization by not interfering with what
6375-632: The team of the ICRC started a multi-day operation to facilitate the release and transfer of hostages held in Gaza and of Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank. In early December, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the Red Cross delegation must have access to the remaining hostages. The ICRC is not a negotiating power but the ICRC chief had direct talks with senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar in November, demanding direct access to
6460-555: The world. Nauru , Niue , Oman , and the Vatican City are the states without national societies, along with the states with limited recognition , such as Abkhazia , Somaliland , South Ossetia , Transnistria . Nicaragua 's National Society, Nicaraguan Red Cross , was dissolved by Nicaragua's parliament on May 9, 2023. The German Red Cross (DRK) was founded in 1921, bringing together various independent Red Cross associations that had previously operated autonomously within
6545-734: The year, the Agency already had some 1,200 volunteers who worked in the Musée Rath of Geneva, amongst them the French writer and pacifist Romain Rolland . When he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1915, he donated half of the prize money to the Agency. Most of the staff were women, some of whom – like Marguerite van Berchem , Marguerite Cramer and Suzanne Ferrière – served in high positions as pioneers of gender equality in an organisation dominated by men. By
6630-591: Was dropped. In 1944, the ICRC received its second Nobel Peace Prize. As in World War I, it received the only Peace Prize awarded during the main period of war, 1939 to 1945. At the end of the war, the ICRC worked with national Red Cross societies to organize relief assistance to those countries most severely affected. In 1948, the Committee published a report reviewing its war-era activities from 1 September 1939 to 30 June 1947. The ICRC opened its archives from World War II in 1996. On 12 August 1949, further revisions to
6715-670: Was founded in 1908. It has its headquarters in Brasília . In 1907, physician Joaquim de Oliveira Botelho proposed organizing the Brazilian Red Cross in Rio de Janeiro and gained support from members of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute . Articles of Association were drafted and approved on 5 December 1908, and the organization gained recognition as a national branch of the International Committee of
6800-593: Was founded in the Ottoman Empire in 1868, partly in response to the experience of the Crimean War (1853–1856), in which disease overshadowed battle as the main cause of death and suffering among Turkish soldiers. It was the first Red Crescent society of its kind and one of the most important charity organizations in the Muslim world. In 1867, the first International Conference of National Aid Societies for
6885-558: Was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering . Until the middle of the nineteenth century, there were no organized or well-established army nursing systems for casualties, nor safe or protected institutions, to accommodate and treat those who were wounded on the battlefield. A devout Calvinist , the Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant traveled to Italy to meet then-French emperor Napoleon III in June 1859 with
6970-671: Was sent to Berlin as a delegate of the International Red Cross; he visited Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1944. The choice of the inexperienced Rossel for this mission has been interpreted as indicative of his organization's indifference to the "Jewish problem", while his report has been described as "emblematic of the failure of the ICRC" to advocate for Jews during the Holocaust. Rossel's report was noted for its uncritical acceptance of Nazi propaganda . He erroneously stated that Jews were not deported from Theresienstadt. Claude Lanzmann recorded his experiences in 1979, producing
7055-480: Was seriously affected by numerous aerial attacks on medical facilities and ambulances. The ICRC said in November that civilians have "overwhelmingly borne the brunt" civilians the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and Israel so far. Israeli forces have killed over 25,000 people, including civilians, Israeli nationals, and Hamas members in a devastating bombing campaign and ground offensive. In late November,
7140-460: Was that the Nazi -controlled German Red Cross refused to cooperate with the Geneva statutes, including blatant violations such as the deportation of Jews from Germany, and the mass murders conducted in the Nazi concentration camps . Two other main parties to the conflict, the Soviet Union and Japan, were not party to the 1929 Geneva Conventions and were not legally required to follow the rules of
7225-534: Was viewed as a German internal matter. The Red Cross also considered its primary focus to be prisoners of war whose countries had signed the Geneva Convention . The Geneva Conventions in their 1929 revision formed the legal basis of the work of the ICRC during World War II. The activities of the committee were similar to those during World War I: visiting and monitoring POW camps , organizing relief assistance for civilian populations , and administering
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