The Red cross and red crescent movement

henrydunant In 1859, a Swiss merchant, Henri Donan was a witness to thousands of soldiers, being injured in the battlefield of Solvrino, dying without finding proper care or means of transportation to hospitals. These appalling images have deeply moved him and motivated him to transfer them to the entire world in his book, entitled “Solvrino Memoirs”, a book that had a strong tremor effect on the entire Europe.

He then met a number of prominent personalities in Switzerland, who joined him and together they formed “the International Committee for the Aid of the injured” in 1863. This committee then became what is known now as the International Committee for Red Cross. This same committee took the initiative of putting together international pacts among various governments to protect the people who do not directly take part in wars (civilians, POWs and injured), also to protect medical teams, their convoys and headquarters. This pact was then known as Geneva Convention of 1949. Another two protocols were attached to it in 1977.