Red Cross: A Reputable Nonprofit Organization

Introduction

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, that assists people throughout the world who are affected by international and internal armed conflicts. The ICRC maintains a permanent presence in over 60 countries and in 2003 had offices in 169 locations worldwide. The credit in the establishment of a system of international humanitarian law needs to be given to the nonstate actors, especially the Red Cross (Forsythe, 15).

It has been the leading force and impetus behind the codification of both The Hague and the Geneva Conventions, which impose on nation-states and individuals certain responsibilities during times of war and of peace. The role of the nation-states in the process has been limited and, for the most part, insignificant. Their contribution to the evolution of international humanitarian law has been in the form of responding to calls made by the Red Cross, of participating in conferences held to draft the documents on the matter, and of implementing the conventions adopted at those conferences (Forsythe, 16).

History of the ICRC

The movement emerged as a response to the dire consequences of deadly warfare and its impacts on civilians. The primary motive behind the movement was the protection of nonwarring entities during wartime, the wounded, and prisoners of war. The protection provided by the movement in this regard is twofold. It has ensured the codification and implementation of a comprehensive set of international legal instruments that are to be observed by a large number of nation-states. It also provides firsthand and direct humanitarian aid to those who have been affected by warfare (Burton, 8).

This move, led by the American Red Cross, expanded the international activities of the Red Cross to include relief assistance in response to emergency situations that were not caused by war, such as man-made or natural disasters. The American Red Cross already had great disaster-relief mission experience extending back to its foundation (Burton, 9). The first relief assistance mission organized by the federation, then called the League of Red Cross Societies, was an aid mission for the victims of a famine and subsequent typhus epidemic in Poland.

Within five years the league launched 47 missions to 34 countries, bringing emergency supplies to famine victims in Russia, Germany, and Albania; earthquake survivors in Chile, Persia, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Turkey; and refugees in Greece and Turkey. The first large-scale disaster mission came after the 1923 earthquake in Japan, which killed about 200,000 and left more than one million hurt and homeless. As a result the Red Cross Society of Japan received goods from societies around the world worth about $100 million (Buckingham, 33).

Today the international federation's programs are grouped into four main core areas: promoting humanitarian principles and values, disaster response, disaster preparedness, and health and care in the community. Guiding and supporting the development of its member national societies is one of the federation's fundamental tasks. Creating the opportunity for national societies to network and work together ...