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| Sunday, 5 December 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
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There is no doubt that any person in the midst of conflict needs protection. There are several international organisations that voluntarily provide such services for the people in need. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an independent and neutral organisation set up with a mission to ensure humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and armed violence. The ICRC works on behalf of civilians, prisoners and detainees. The organisation helps restore family links between people affected by conflict and each year hundreds of thousands of people are assisted. The ICRC directs and coordinates the international relief activities conducted by the movement in situations of conflict. The ICRC also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles. With its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the ICRC is based in around 80 countries and has more than 12,000 staff. Established in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The foremost goals of ICRC are to work towards a universal, sustained action, working alongside the victims of conflict. It is the ICRC's vocation to act wherever it is needed by developing the means required to obtain access to the victims of armed conflict and internal violence at all places, to protect and assist them, develop its capacity to analyse armed conflict worldwide in order to identify and anticipate humanitarian needs, respond to them effectively and take the safety of its personnel into account during operations.
According to ICRC, 'assistance' is part of a set of activities aimed at ensuring full respect for rights of the individual in accordance with international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law. Vital measures include convincing the authorities to end specific patterns of abuse and alleviating suffering by providing material or medical assistance. The aim is to preserve or reserve acceptable living conditions for people, the sick and wounded and people deprived of their freedom. The ICRC targets those people and groups who determine the fate of victims of armed conflict or who can obstruct or facilitate ICRC action. These groups include armed forces, police, security forces and other bearers of weapons, decision-makers and opinion-leaders at local and international level. ICRC also targets young people and university students. One essential work of the ICRC's preventive work is a land mine and ERW (Explosive Remnants of War) awareness programme which seeks to reduce casualties caused by mines and ERW. Assistance work of ICRC centres in the areas of health, economic security and water habitat, and seeks to reduce sickness and deaths among conflict victims. The ICRC uses humanitarian diplomacy to make states aware of problems and issues of humanitarian concern and shares these concerns with the international community. It seeks to heighten awareness of humanitarian needs and principles in various international organisations such as the United Nations. The ICRC works with the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide to enhance and build upon their capacities so that they can fulfil their responsibilities as members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to provide humanitarian services in their countries. This mutually supportive relationship and the coordination of capacities ensure that victims of conflict receive wider and more efficient services. The ICRC is governed by an Assembly, an Assembly Council and a Directorate. The Assembly and the Assembly Council are both chaired by ICRC President, Jacob Keelenberger, Ph.D. **** How and who founded it?
Many suffered during the mid-nineteenth century Astro-Sardinian War. As a result, a Swiss banker and philanthropist, Jean Henri Duant founded the Red Cross after seeing the suffering of the wounded.'The Committee of Five' met in Geneva and then the Geneva Convention was signed, for the protection and care of soldiers wounded in war. Later came the International Red Cross Committee, with branches in most countries of the world.The Sri Lankan branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross was established in 1989. The head office is located in Colombo. The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, working with the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Federation), carries out activities to assist victims of the civil war and to address the need for improved health care and disaster preparedness throughout the country. The Red Cross Flag honours Switzerland where the Red Cross was founded in 1863. The Swiss flag is a white cross on a red background, so a red cross on a white background was chosen as the new emblem of this mercy mission. |
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