Bangladesh: red crescent campaigns for correct use of emblem

26-10-2012 Photo gallery

Every year, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society carries out several campaigns to raise awareness about the appropriate use of the red crescent emblem as a protective and as an indicative device. From 19 to 23 September 2012, Bangladesh Red Crescent volunteers in the north-eastern district of Habiganj went door-to-door to address and raise awareness of instances of misuse of this symbol of hope and impartiality. The ICRC teamed up with the volunteers to bring the local government and members of civil society on board.

- The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols restrict use of the red cross and red crescent emblems. These emblems are not logos or trademarks, but internationally recognized symbols that identify and protect armed forces' medical personnel, facilities and means of transport in situations of armed conflict. Today, the red cross and red crescent have also come to symbolize the independent, neutral and impartial action undertaken by the components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to prevent or alleviate human suffering. Misuse may diminish their protective value and undermine the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance in case of conflict or disaster. Because the emblems need to be instantly recognizable their use is restricted under IHL.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- Prior to the launch of the campaign, 28 volunteers from the Habiganj branch of the Bangladesh Red Crescent attended a two-day orientation session on combating misuse of the red crescent emblem.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- The volunteers hit the road in teams of three or four. Over five days, they covered 62 public places in eight sub-districts and one municipality of Habiganj.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- A poster identifying the correct symbols for the marking of pharmacies, ambulances, doctors' surgeries and hospitals. It clearly mentions that misuse of the red crescent emblem is illegal under the Geneva Conventions Implementing Act, 1936.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- Volunteers peeled the red crescent off ambulances and replaced it with the correct symbol. Rampant misuse of the emblems endangers aid workers and health-care services during emergencies.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- Representatives of the ICRC and the Bangladesh Red Crescent met with the Habiganj Chemist and Drug Association to explain to them the importance of protecting the integrity of the emblem.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- Campaigners pasted "green crescent" stickers at local pharmacies. Posters were put up in public places, and stickers with appropriate signs were distributed among doctors and in pharmacies, ambulances, health centres and hospitals.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain
- According to a Bangladesh Red Crescent survey, only one per cent of the people misusing the emblems disagreed with the campaigners.
  © Bangladesh Red Crescent Society / Zakir Hossain

Bangladesh: red crescent campaigns for correct use of emblem

26-10-2012 Photo gallery

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