© ICRC/ref. SV-D-00044-01

In 1859 Swiss-banker Henri Dunant witnessed the terrible reality of wounded soldiers who remained without assistance at the Solferino battlefield. His initiative to ensure protection for the wounded and sick was soon followed by the signing of the Geneva Convention of 1864.

In the course of history that protection was continually refined. It became a detailed legal regime with the adoption of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977.

The first Geneva Convention concerns the wounded and sick, the second extends the protection to the shipwrecked. These treaties specify that the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked must be protected and respected as long as they refrain from fighting. In addition, those who provide assistance should not be prevented from fulfilling their task.

See also: ICRC activities>Assistance>Health services for people affected by war