Whither humanitarianism? Reflections on World Red Cross Red Crescent Day

by Mukesh Kapila, Professor of Global Health & Humanitarian Affairs, University of Manchester; Former Under Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

ICRC

Portrait of Henry Dunant

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Letter to Henry Dunant, father of the Red Cross, born 8 May 1828, died 30 Oct 1910

Dear Henry,
We commemorate your birthday today – 8 May - as World Red Cross Red Crescent Day. If you were alive now, you would be 186 years old. But you are not really gone. We remember you, everywhere and everyday. Everywhere - in the physical symbols and structures of your beloved creation, the Red Cross Red Crescent, scattered across neighbourhoods worldwide. Everyday – whenever someone extends a hand of friendship and compassion to a stranger in distress.
But who were you?
You never smiled during your lifetime. How could you – seeing what you did of the atrocities at the Battle of Solferino in 1859? In your own words:
"How many silent tears were shed that miserable night when all false pride, all human decency even, were forgotten!"
Today, you would be diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and counselled or medicated out of your obsession to change the world. But you resisted and your smartness lay in recognising that the best way to disarm evil is by doing good. Would your dark brooding countenance in your endlessly reproduced portrait lighten a little knowing that two in every 1000 people in today's world volunteer for the Red Cross Red Crescent?
You were not afraid to speak truth to power as you coaxed and cajoled kings and generals into your universal Red Cross project. Your refusal to compromise on principles ensured solid foundations for international humanitarian law. If you had not stood firm, I wonder if the Geneva Conventions we know would have survived so many turbulent decades, or if we would have the conviction to negotiate them afresh today?
You were also remarkably resilient in the face of extraordinary opposition and abuse. Your own associates exiled you from your birthplace of Geneva and nearly succeeded in airbrushing you out of history. You suffered many long years in obscurity and poverty. But, much to your own bemusement, you were "re-discovered" at a convenient moment when a wounded world needed some feel-good do-good stories. Myth-making was thus your final service to humanity. This is important as your more feeble successors need constant injections of courage in the continued fight against stigma, discrimination, and myriad other social ills, hatreds and cruelties that plague our society.
And what of the Red Cross Red Crescent itself? Your original committee of five good men (from which your stubbornness got you thrown out) has transformed into national entities that cover 189 countries in what is now the world's largest humanitarian network serving over 155 million most needy and desperate people through some 16 million volunteers and 500,000 staff, and expending around US$35 billion annually.
And yet... are you satisfied? Perhaps you turn in your grave as you contemplate today's global humanitarian enterprise?
This is now a multi-billion dollar industry with thousands of brand-conscious humanitarian organisations competing in the marketplace of human misery. They employ hundreds of thousands of ambitious professionals for whom humanitarian work is a career track or sometimes, even a lifestyle choice. Humanitarianism has become a respectable academic discipline as researchers dissect its inner mysteries, policy-makers codify its workings, and trainers make a useful livelihood by inducting others into its complex rituals. It is also an indispensable tool for muscular governments vying with each other as they strut on the international stage. It is even a cool affair for film and rock stars to burnish their image by associating with it.
Do you fret that in an age of such amazing capabilities and immense resources, we have, arguably, lessening humanitarian access, even as needs and vulnerabilities from conflicts, crises, and disasters expand? Millions go cold and hungry in Syria, suffer barbarism in the Central African Republic, and endure genocidal assault in Sudan, to name just a few of the contemporary Solferinos.
The humanitarian corpus has metamorphosed but its soul has shrunk. We need you back to remind us that the humanitarian instinct – the urge to help others – is innate in all of us. It can be better tuned and guided, of course, but it cannot be squeezed into a neat corporate package. It needs to remain unruly, and always challenge our complacency. This is because the ultimate message of humanitarianism is that of permanent hope for a better world – by remaining dissatisfied and challenging everyone to do more, do better, and reach further. Just like you did.
So Happy Birthday, dear Henry. There can be no rest in peace for you, as your job is not done.

You can follow Mukesh Kapila on twitter @mukeshkapila.

A 150 years after a noble idea was turned into a humanitarian institution by the vision of one man, Henri Dunant, it is time to celebrate,  reflect and learn. 

  The wide array of quality work done by ICRC over 150 years is truly remarkable, and having 
187 national RC and RC societies around the world to work with, clearly exceeded Dunant’s dream when he wrote: 
  “ Would it not be possible, in times of peace and quiet, to form relief societies for the purpose of having care given to the wounded in wartime by zealous, devoted and thoroughly qualified volunteers?”   Dunant was the dynamo of our world-wide RC movement, and we must honour all those zealous, devoted and thoroughly qualified volunteers and staff, who have given their time, many their lives, over 150 years, to serve and alleviate human suffering.   The ICRC, with the Federation and its member national societies, are all key components of evolving humanitarian action with a reach to those tragic  ‘storehouses of sorrow world-wide.’ 
   To take this ideal  further, Nicolas Bouvier, a Swiss writer and artist wrote, “ My belief is that one must have passed through fire oneself....to be able to sort out...the contents of those storehouses of sorrow, where fortunately we can also find, more often than we might have dared to expect...enough small miracles to motivate and encourage those in the field who are so often compelled, to quote a medieval Japanese poem, ‘to bear the unbearable and tolerate the intolerable.”   On behalf of the International Federation we thank and congratulate  the ICRC for its brilliant  humanitarian work over 150 years which has provided hope and succor in times of despair and helped so many victims to build new lives.

Written by Bob McKerrow head of delegation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Sri Lanka for the ICRC publication on 150 years of humanitarian action. 

On 17 February 1863 five Swiss citizens gathered in Geneva to create an international committee for relief to the wounded, which in 1875 was renamed the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC is now one of the largest international humanitarian organizations, with almost 13,000 staff working in behalf of the victims of armed conflict and other violence in 92 countries.The activities of the ICRC and of the entire International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement began on fields of battle, where wounded soldiers were cared for no matter who they were or which side they belonged to.

The Red Cross story that began 150 years ago is not only the story of the Red Cross itself – it is also, in fact mainly, the story of people who suffer the effects of war and other violence, and of what can and should be done to help them.

150 years of humanitarian action in the midst of armed conflict

14-02-2013 News Release 13/16

Geneva (ICRC) – On 17 February, the International Committee of
 the Red Cross (ICRC) will mark its 150th anniversary and
commemorate the beginning of its efforts to bring relief to
millions and improve the lives of countless people adversely
affected by armed conflict.

At a time when people are suffering the agonies of war in Syria, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
 elsewhere, the ICRC is more determined than ever to carry on with its humanitarian mission.

"This anniversary provides us with an opportunity to look critically at our past, and also to develop awareness of the 
strengths that have helped us in our activities carried out for millions of victims of armed conflict and other violence," 
said Peter Maurer, president of the ICRC. "Now more than ever, we must not only remain true to our principles but also
 search for new ways to better serve the people who need help. We must redouble our efforts to make sure that the 
neutral, impartial and independent nature of our humanitarian activities is understood by all."

"Together with our partners within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the broader 
humanitarian community, we must seek ways of meeting these challenges," said the ICRC president. "We have to
 better coordinate humanitarian efforts, and pay very careful attention to the opinions of those we are seeking to help
 – and give them the opportunity to play an active role in these efforts, the ultimate aim of which is to enable people
 in need to achieve a lasting recovery.''The ICRC continues to adapt to new forms of armed conflict and to a number of 
challenges confronting humanitarian activities. "We are carrying on with our work in an environment that is being 
shaped 
by the use of new weapons and technologies, the proliferation of armed groups, the difficulty of obtaining access to 
people requiring aid, and a plethora of NGOs and other humanitarian organizations endeavouring to serve communities
 with competing approaches," said the ICRC president.

The biggest challenge facing the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations is a lack of respect for international 
humanitarian law, which prohibits violence directed against people who are not involved in armed conflict, like children, 
the wounded or sick, or detainees. "The need for a strong political will to spare civilians and otherwise comply with 
international humanitarian law, whether on the part of States or of non-State armed groups, has never been greater," 
said Mr Maurer.

Many of the ICRC's everyday activities now have far-reaching effects.

 "When ICRC delegates visit detainees in Guantanamo, or facilitate the 
release of hostages in Colombia, or help people in Afghanistan obtain health 
care in safe conditions, or provide the maintenance and technical know-how 
that keep the water and electricity networks up and running in Goma, a city of
 half a million people, or push for a binding international treaty on cluster 
munitions, they have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of many people,"
 said Mr Maurer.

"The vision of Henry Dunant – the Red Cross idea – has not only survived 
but flourished through all these long years," said Mr Maurer. "Over the past 
century and a half, the ICRC has overcome political adversity, financial difficulty, 
cultural barriers and countless other obstacles, even attacks on its own staff to 
bring vitally needed humanitarian assistance and protection to people in need." 
Once quite small with an entirely Swiss staff, the ICRC now performs its 
humanitarian tasks in over 90 countries all over the world, and has a workforce 
of almost 13,000 men and women of over 100 different nationalities.

Photos: Bob McKerrow

Land Rovers, landmines and fireworks in the field.

Land Rovers have changed little over the last 40 years and have been the work horses of our Red Cross field operations. My first Red Cross assignment was in Vietnam in 1971 and we had a trusty Landrover. Transportation may not have changed much, but the way we work has changed dramatically. I remember puttings sandbags under the seats and extra metal plating on the floor of our Land Rover, as land mines were prevalent in the remote highland areas we worked in.

The New Zealand Red Cross Refugee Welfare Team and their trusty Land Rover in South Vietnam 1971. From Left to right: Simon Evans agriculture, Bob McKerrow livelihoods and education, Adrian Lattimore nurse, John Gordon leader and agriculture, Peter Barnes mechanic and sanitation. Photo: Bob McKerrow

The next year, early 1972, we flew a short-wheel base Land Rover to Bangladesh by NZ Airforce C-130 to be part of an ICRC/IFRC joint operation where over 20 national societies sent socio-medical teams. Our current President Tadateru Konoe was leader of the Japanese Red Cross team, and I was leader of the NZ Red Cross team. With bridges blown up by the retreating army, Land Rovers got us across many rivers and roadless terrain to provide life-saving services to many of the ten million returning refugees from Bangladesh, who had been sheltering in India for over a year. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Iain Logan and I have discussed the merits of Land Rovers over the years, often over pints of beer.. The last of the Series 1, the  1958 SWB was a classic and when Iain was driving trucks of relief supplies as a Red Cross volunteer for the Biafran Red Cross operation, he mentioned to me how SWB Land Rovers were the backbone of medical and relief teams.

Our briefing in the New Zealand Red Cross headquarters in 1971 by Coimmander Maurice Ashdown. Left to right: Simon Evans, Adrian Lattimore, Bob McKerrow and Peter Barnes. Wow ! let's bring back the shorts as tropical attire for delegates.

The New Zealand Red Cross sent another refugee welfare team back to Vietnam in 1973 and I was appointed leader. We purchased a new LWB Land Rover. I drove the it from Wellington to the port of Tauranga, where it went by ship to Saigon, and drove it from there to Pleiku in the Central Highlands where we were running recovery programmes for IDPs. That is where I first met George Weber, who was a first-time delegate for the IFRC/ICRC joint Indo-China operation. George later went on to the the Secretary general of the IFRC.

Land Rovers again enabled the Federation to support the Ethiopian Red Cross with a massive drought relief operation in 1978-79. We would cram full our Land Rovers with grain and drive from 7,000 feet in Dessie (Wollo) up to over 12,000 feet in the highlands where over a million people were starving.

A photo of me left with a young Ethiopian Red Cross volunteers.

Photo: Ato Tsehayou Seyoum (who is now head of delegation for Canadian Red Cross in India.)

Forty years on, I still enjoy travelling in the trusty Land Rover, although it has many rivals. This was shot earlier this year while visiting a tsunami funded water supply in Ampara, Sri Lanka. Someone asked me the other day what I am going to do when I retire from Red Cross, and I said " I will probably end up in charge of fireworks and entertainment.in a red Cross branch somewhere."

(1) Astonishingly, at the Diplomatic Conference in August 1864, the man without whom the occasion would never have taken place was not an official delegate. Henry Dunant was designated chairman of the entertainments committee, charged with organising social gathering and firework displays.


(1)Quote from: C. Moorhead, Dunant’s Dream (New York, Harper Collins 1998 )p.44

Solferino: Making their move for a better world

Last weekend of 26-28 June 2009, thousands of people gathered together in Solferino to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino and celebrate the birth of an idea that led to the founding of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. With commitments in Indonesia with the tsunami operation, I was so disappointed not to make it to Solferino, but I have followed it closely through friends and Red Cross websites.

1859-2009: 150 years since the birth of the idea of the Red Cross Red Crescent
One hundred and fifty years ago, a battle in northern Italy led to an idea, that has since gone on to change the world. In June 1859, Henry Dunant, a young Geneva businessman, witnessed horrifying suffering and agony at the battle of Solferino. In response, he mobilized the nearby village of Castiglione to care for the wounded, regardless of their nationality. Not satisfied to forget, Dunant returned home and proposed the idea of voluntary relief societies, which are now the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, present in 186 countries throughout the world.

Isn't this an inspirational beginning which today is the largest humanitarian organisation in the world.

An estimated 13,000 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers coming from all over the world participate in a 9 kilometer torch-lit procession in Solferino, Italy to to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino and celebrate the birth of an idea that led to the founding of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. ©ICRC/M.Kokic/27 June 2009

Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers from all over the world join together at Plazza Castello in Solferino.
©ICRC/M.Kokic/27 June 2009

Five hundred youth from 149 countries at the third Red Cross Red Crescent world youth meeting Solferino in Italy this week are planning their next move for humanity. Under the theme “Youth on the Move”, workshops, cultural exchanges and meetings are taking place as part of the 150-year anniversary of the battle of Solferino. Stephen Ryan, communications officer for youth and volunteers at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said he hoped the youth meeting would inspire concrete actions in participants from every part of the world. “History won’t be made at this meeting. This is just the start of a long journey. History will be made when people return to their home countries.” Samantha Duncan from the Grenada Red Cross Society said the best part of the meeting was learning what works in other countries. “I’m here to learn more about the best practices of other National Societies so that I can take it back to my country to improve our society and make an improvement on our programmes. “I’m here to build capacity for my National Society, take new ideas and also take old, existing ones that work for other countries and see what we can do with them and adopt them in our country.” Aaron Turner, a youth search and rescue leader and emergency response team in the New Zealand Red Cross, said he was impressed with the role of youth in other countries. “New Zealand Red Cross youth is not quite matured yet. It’s still in its really early stages and a lot of National Societies, particularly African societies, have 80 per cent of their members youth classed as youth whereas in New Zealand it’s less than 5. “It’s just fantastic to see the energy and vitality these countries bring. And it’s a lot to learn from.” He said he would try to take home the spirit of enthusiasm and communication. “My next move is to take back the motivation and the vitality that’s here. It’s just insane. The opening ceremony was something I’d never experienced before and I completely underestimated it. It’s something we want to take back to New Zealand. “To start a Pacific forum or to increase communication would just be fantastic.” Hadhya Al Zawm, a volunteer co-ordinator in the Yemen Red Crescent Society, said she was inspired by the Red Cross Red Crescent’s global values of humanity, independence, neutrality, impartiality, voluntary action, universality and unity. “I am here to meet our other brothers and sisters in the Movement. It was my dream to be here and to participate with other youth. And not to see not only in Yemen but all over the world that we all believe in the same fundamental principles and we do the same volunteering work and the same activities.”

Thanks to Rosemary North, IFRC or her article and the ICRC for photographs.

The need for humanitarian action is no less today than it was in Dunant’s time. So from 28 June 2009, Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and staff got her in Italy to remember the past, but also to look to the future. The world is changing, and so too are the challenges.

Simple gestures can make a difference - Make yours.

90 years old - The largest humanitarian orgamisation in the World.

With "I am happy helping my friends' written on their T shirts, these young Indonesian Red Cross volunteers live out the slogan.
Displacement, disease, increasing disasters, a lack of clean water, food shortages, rising violence, the separation of families, grinding poverty and escalating vulnerability are some of the frequent challenges faced by tens of millions of people worldwide affected by armed conflict, natural catastrophes, internal violence and climate change.
Too often, their suffering goes unnoticed and unchecked. In an effort to give the victims of war and disaster a stronger voice, and in an attempt to get people around the globe to sit up and take action, the world's largest humanitarian network – the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – is launched a global campaign called Our world. Your move. on 8 May.

"This campaign is about more than raising awareness, this is a call to action. It's about engaging people in the spirit of volunteerism and empowering everyone to make a difference in the world around us. Each and everyone of us must work in our communities so we are better prepared to cope with current and emerging crises. Together we can protect our future by taking action today," said Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was founded on 5 May, 1919, in Paris, France. Today, it is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 186 Member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and nearly 100 million volunteers.

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, the IFRC held special events in Paris, on 4 May. At a special reception held at the Elysée Palace, the “Paris Declaration” on the humanitarian challenges the world faces today, was presented presented. The document calls for a major shift towards a culture of prevention and preparedness, instead of just emergency response to disasters.

The campaign is symbolized by a globe in disarray. Each time someone takes action or takes an interest via the web portal http://www.ourworld-yourmove.org/ they are helping to restore order to a world in a mess. The site also allows users to share their experiences through blog contributions, videos and photos.

"Because of the global economic crisis, these are obviously hard times for a lot of people, but they're even harder for those who had very little to begin with. We have a collective responsibility to make our world a better place and we each have the individual power to 'make a move' to help others, whether it's spending time with an elderly neighbour or offering food and shelter to a family displaced by fighting," said Jakob Kellenberger, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

With I am happy helping my friends" emblazoned on his T shirt, Angunn Perman Sidiq joined in the celebrations in Jakarta on 8 May 2009.

The Our world. Your move. initiative coincides with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino, in Italy, which led to the creation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, as well as the 90th anniversary of the IFRC and the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. Millions of campaign enthusiasts in more than 80 countries are expected to turn out to celebrate its launch on 8 May, which is also recognized as World Red Cross Red Crescent Day.

Co Chairman of Indonesian Red Cross Salahuddin Nyak Kaoy and Bob McKerrow sit with young children at World Red Cross Day celebrations at a children's home in Jakarta.
Young Indonesian Red Crioss volunteers practicing first aid.
Two Indonesian Red Cross volunteers with Our World Your Move written on their T Shirts in Bahasa Indonesian. Both boys are trained in first aid and are knowledgeable about Avian and Swine Flu.


On Friday 8 May the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) celebrated World Red Cross Day in an orphanage and home for destitute children in Jakarta.
There are 300 kindergartens and children's homes from the Kasih Ibu institution throughout Indonesia supported by the Indonesian Red Cross

As they are aware of the humanitarian challenges the world faces today, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI} believes that raising volunteerism from childhood is important.
The PMI has started to drive the global campaign, Our World. Your Move, by introducing humanitarian activities to the children as they are the best change agents thought their peers for making a better world.
Please go to this link http://pmi.or.id/ina/news/?act=detail&p_id=106 for more detail.
From 24 to 28 June, thousands of young people from more than 120 nations are due to take part in a world youth meeting and humanitarian village in the Italian village of Solferino, where they will commemorate the history of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and define their vision for tackling today's humanitarian challenges. The vision for improving the world, sorting out the mess, must come from the new generation of humanitarians.