Comité International de la Croix-Rouge

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was established in 1863 in Switzerland, by a group of people inspired by the works of Swiss businessman Henri Dunant. The first national relief societies were founded soon afterwards. The ICRC is an independent, neutral organisation, with the aim of providing medical assistance and humanitarian aid to victims and combattants regardless of which side they are on. Its services are largely run by volunteers. A pioneer in the development of international humanitarian law, the ICRC derives its main mandate from the four internationally ratified treaties of the ‘Geneva Convention’ (adopted and/or revised in 1864, 1906, 1929 and 1949) and its three protocols (adopted in 1977 and 2005). During World War I, the ICRC mobilized a huge number of volunteers for its ambulance services and hospitals. Its Central Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva maintained the links between captured soldiers and their families. In 1919 the League of Red Cross Societies was formed with the goal of forming a coordinating and support body for the Red Cross movement. The ICRC retained its role as a neutral intermediary. During the Second World War, the ICRC was active on five continents, providing aid to soldiers and civilian victims on all sides. Today, the organisation considers its passive attitude – caused by a lack of legal basis, its concern for strict neutrality, its dependence on traditional procedures, … – with regards to the victims of the Holocaust its greatest failure. Many individual ICRC delegates however were active in helping Jews escape persecution and destruction. Since the end of the Second World War, the ICRC has continued to ensure the strengthening of international humanitarian law. The ICRC, the largest humanitarian network organisation, plays a major role in providing medical and humanitarian aid during armed conflicts, emergencies and natural disasters.