CCOPAB celebrates the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (8 May)
Rio de Janeiro (RJ) - The Brazilian Peace Operations Joint Training Center - Sergio Vieira de Mello Center, a Brazilian Army Educational Organization supervised by the Department of Military Technical Education, celebrates the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (8 May). The date is the anniversary of the birth of the Swiss Henry Dunant. He was born in 1828, in Geneva, and he is the founding father of the Movement in 1863.
In 1859, the Battle of Solferino took place, which later led to the unification of Italy. On that occasion, French soldiers, commanded by Napoleon III and Sardinian soldiers, commanded by the Austrian Army, clashed, resulting in approximately six thousand deaths.
As medical services were limited due to the great number of injured people, Dunant relied on the help of volunteers to provide support to the victims; regardless of whether they were French, Sardinian or Austrian. The Battle of Solferino led Dunant to encourage the creation of a neutral and impartial organization to protect and assist victims of war. Due to the proposals Dunant had made, the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were later created.
Currently, the movement is composed of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and 189 National Societies to assure:
- the protection and assistance to the victims of armed conflicts; and
- the application of the IHL and the Geneva Conventions.
The Red Cross embodies seven Fundamental Principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, volunteering, unity and universality.
In UN PKOs, the International Organization is deployed to the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), the DRCongo (MONUSCO) and South Sudan (UNMISS).
Source:
- International Committee of the Red Cross
Translation: MAJ ISRAEL.
