International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(Picture from: www.redcross.int)
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (International Federation) (IFRC) is a humanitarian organization founded on 5 May 1919 in Paris, after the First World War (World War I).
The need to create an organization that brought together the different national societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in matters of cooperation and assistance was observed.
It was Henry Pomeroy Davison, chairman of the American Red Cross War Committee, who proposed forming a grouping of National Societies. The League of Red Cross Societies, renamed in October 1983 as the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and converted in November 1991 into the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as it is known today.
The first objective of the Federation was to improve the state of health of the citizens of those countries that had suffered so much during the four years of war. Its objectives were to strengthen and unite existing Red Cross Societies to carry out health activities and promote the creation of new societies.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is made up of all organizations related to the Red Cross and Red Crescent, namely:
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC)
- National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
History
Foundation
In 1919, representatives of the National Red Cross Societies of Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the USA met in Paris to found the League of Red Cross Societies (LSCR) whose stated objectives it was "to strengthen and unite, for health activities, the already existing Red Cross Societies and to promote the creation of new societies". The original idea was proposed by Henry Pomeroy Davison, then president of the American Red Cross, and seconded by British General Sir David Henderson, who became the director general. This organization, led by the American Red Cross, expanded the international activities of the Red Cross Movement beyond the strict mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to include relief assistance in response to emergencies that were not were caused by armed conflicts (such as famine or natural disasters). The American Red Cross already had a wealth of relief mission experience dating back to its founding.[citation needed]
The formation of the League, as an additional international Red Cross organization, along with the ICRC, was not without controversy for several reasons. The ICRC had, to some extent, valid concerns about a possible rivalry between the two organisations. The founding of the League was seen as an attempt to undermine the ICRC's leadership position within the Movement and to gradually transfer the tasks and powers of a multilateral institution. In addition to that, all the founding members of the League were the National Societies of the countries of the allied bloc or of the partners associated with it. The League's original statutes, dated May 1919, due to the efforts of Henry P. Davison, contained regulations that gave the five founding societies more privileged status and the right to permanently exclude National Cross Societies Red Cross from the countries of the Central Powers, such as Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Russian National Red Cross Society. These rules are contrary to the Red Cross principles of Universality and Equality among all National Societies, a situation in principle, which raised the concerns of the International Committee.
Starting the missions
The first relief assistance mission organized by the League was a relief mission for victims of famine and the subsequent typhus epidemic in Poland. Just five years after its founding, the League had already issued 47 donation appeals for missions in 34 countries, an impressive indication of 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 famine victims in Russia, Germany, and Albania; earthquakes in Chile, Persia, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Turkey; and refugee flows in Greece and Turkey. The League's first full-scale disaster mission came after the 1923 earthquake in Japan, which killed an estimated 200,000 people and left many more injured and without shelter. Due to the coordination of the League, the Japan Red Cross received merchandise from its sister societies reaching a total value of around $100 million. Another important new field initiated by the League was job creation for Red Cross youth in National Societies.
A joint ICRC-League mission in the 1917-1922 Russian Civil War marked the first time the movement had been involved in internal conflict but still without an explicit mandate from the Geneva Conventions. The League, with the support of more than 25 National Societies, organized assistance missions and distributed food and other relief goods to civilian populations affected by famine and disease. The ICRC worked with the Russian Red Cross and later the Society of the Soviet Union, constantly stressing the ICRC's neutrality. In 1928, the "International Council " was founded to coordinate cooperation between the ICRC and the League, a task that was later taken over by the "Permanent Commission". In the same year, a common statute for the Movement was approved, which defines the respective roles of the ICRC and the League in the Movement.
During the Abyssinian War between Ethiopia and Italy 1935-1936 the League contributed relief supplies worth around 1.7 million Swiss francs. Because the Italian fascist regime Benito Mussolini refused under any kind of cooperation with the Red Cross, these goods were only delivered to Ethiopia. During the war, an estimated 29 people lost their lives, being under the explicit protection of the Red Cross symbol, most of them due to attacks by the Italian army. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the League once again joined forces with the ICRC with the support of 41 National Societies. In 1939 on the brink of World War II, the League moved its headquarters from Paris to Geneva to take advantage of Swiss neutrality.
After World War II
In 1952, the 1928 Movement Act was revised for the first time.
In the 1960s, there was a marked increase in the number of recognized National Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies due to decolonization. By the late 1960s, there were more than 100 societies around the world. On December 10, 1963, the still League of Red Cross Societies and the ICRC jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1983, the League was renamed the "League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies" to reflect the growing number of National Societies operating under the symbol of the Red Crescent. Three years later, the seven Fundamental Principles of the Movement were finally adopted in 1965 and incorporated into its statutes. The name of the League was changed again in 1991 to its current official name of the "International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies". In 1997, the ICRC and the IFRC signed the Seville Agreement, which further defines the responsibilities of both organizations within the Movement.
In 2004, the IFRC launched its largest mission to date after the tsunami disaster in South Asia. More than 40 National Societies have worked with more than 22,000 volunteers to bring relief to the countless victims left without food and shelter.
Activities and responsibilities
The International Federation coordinates between National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world. The International Federation together with the ICRC supports the founding of new National Societies in countries where there is no official society. A National Society is admitted as a member of the International Federation only after it is recognized by the ICRC. The IFRC cooperates with National Societies of affected countries - called the Receiving National Society (SNR) - as well as National Societies of other countries willing to offer assistance - called Participating National Societies (SNPs). Among the 190 National Societies admitted by the IFRC General Assembly as full members or observers, about 25-30 work regularly as PNS in other countries. The most active are the American Red Cross, the British Red Cross, the German Red Cross, and the Swedish and Norwegian Red Cross Societies. Another important mission of the IFRC which has gained attention in recent years is its commitment to work towards a codified, global ban on the use of landmines and to provide medical, psychological and social support for people injured by landmines.
The indicated tasks of the International Federation can be summarized as follows:
- Promoting humanitarian principles and values
- Supporting National Societies
- Support projects with funds available
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the world's largest humanitarian network with:
- About 14 million volunteers
- More than 415,000 paid employees
- More than 160,000 local units / Red Cross and Red Crescent branches
- 33.9 million people who have donated blood for the National Society's blood services worldwide
- Over 77.2 million people benefited in 2012 from long-term development programmes
- A total income of more than 31.4 million Swiss francs in 2012, with total expenditure of more than 31.1 million Swiss francs
Red Crystal third emblem recognized by the Geneva Convention
Apart from the red cross and red crescent, a new emblem has been chosen in 2005, the Red Crystal, officially called the "Emblem of Protocol III". The rules for using this new emblem are as follows:
- In its own national territory, a national society can use one of the recognized symbols or incorporate one of those symbols or a combination of them into the red crystal. In addition, a national society may choose to display an earlier and effectively used emblem, after formally communicating it to the states of the Geneva Convention.
- For indicative use in foreign territory, a national society that does not use one of the emblems recognized as its own must incorporate its unique emblem into the red crystal, based on the above-mentioned condition of formally communicating its sole emblem to the Geneva Convention.
- For protection, only the emblem recognized by the Geneva Convention can be used. Specifically, those national societies that do not use one of the emblems recognized as their own will have to use the red crystal without incorporating any additional emblems.
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