The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16 million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering.
Henry Dunant, also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, social activist, and co-founder of the Red Cross. His humanitarian efforts won him the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
The First Geneva Convention, officially the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, held on 22 August 1864, is the first of four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It defines "the basis on which rest the rules of international law for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts."
The Italian Red Cross is the Italian national Red Cross society. The Italian Red Cross was one of the original founding members of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1919.
The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access. The day was first established in 1981 and first observed in September 1982 and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people.
Under the Geneva Conventions, the emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are to be worn by all medical and humanitarian personnel and also displayed on their vehicles and buildings while they are in an active warzone, and all military forces operating in an active warzone must not attack entities displaying these emblems. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement recognizes four protection emblems, three of which are in use: the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Red Lion and Sun, and the Red Crystal.
The Cyprus Red Cross Society is the only Red Cross society in Cyprus recognised by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Headquarters of the Society are located in Nicosia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and promoting humanitarian norms.
The Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) is a voluntary humanitarian organization that seeks to promote humanitarian values, as well as provide service and public education in disaster management, as well as healthcare in the community. It is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here, humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response whether in the case of a natural disaster or a man-made disaster such as war or other armed conflict. Humanitarian principles govern the way humanitarian response is carried out.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. It does so independently and with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions.
Cornelio Sommaruga was a Swiss humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat who is best known for having been President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. He chaired the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Geneva. He was also active on a number of boards, such as the International Union Against Cancer. He was Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation For the Future, an organization dedicated to promoting human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, and the honorary President of Initiatives of Change International, a global organization dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is a global civil society coalition working to promote adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The campaign helped bring about this treaty. ICAN was launched in 2007. In 2022, it counted 661 partner organizations in 110 countries.
Jean de Muralt or Johannes von Muralt, was a Swiss lawyer and the chairman of the International League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1944 to 1945.
The Syrian peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans to resolve the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 and spilled beyond its borders. The peace process was moderated by the Arab League, the UN Special Envoy on Syria, Russia and Western powers. The negotiating parties were representatives of the Syrian Ba'athist government and Syrian opposition. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was excluded at the insistence of Turkey. Radical Salafist forces including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have not engaged in any contacts on peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is the permanent statutory body of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the highest deliberative body of the Movement between the meetings of the Council of Delegates and the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. It was originally set up to coordinate cooperation between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the national Red Cross Society of North Korea. It was founded as the Red Cross Society of North Korea on 18 October 1946 by the Soviet-backed occupational government.
A Memory of Solferino is a book of the Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant published in 1862. It proved decisive in the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Marguerite "Meggy"Frick-Cramer, born Renée-Marguerite Cramer, was a Swiss legal scholar, historian, and humanitarian activist. She was the first woman to sit on the governing body of an international organization, when she was made a member of the board of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1918.
