The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement represents the world’s largest humanitarian network. It is made up of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and 185 member National Societies, as well as almost 100 million volunteers.

Each year, on 8 May, the Movement marks World Red Cross Red Crescent Day by highlighting the role of its staff and volunteers in saving lives and assisting vulnerable communities around the world. The theme of this year’s event is “Together for Humanity”.

“We know from long experience in dealing with crises that no single government or organization alone can tackle the rising challenges posed by catastrophes, conflicts, health emergencies, poverty and migration,” said the president of the International Federation, Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, and the president of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, in a joint statement.
“It will take solid coordination and better partnerships at all levels, including governments, donors, humanitarian agencies, the private sector and individuals, in order to reduce the impact of wars, disasters and disease, while making vulnerable communities stronger and safer,” they added.

An excellent example of how combined efforts have had a major impact on disease is The Measles Initiative, which is supported by the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control, the UN Foundation, UNICEF and the WHO. Together, they have achieved a remarkable 75 per cent reduction in the number of measles deaths in Africa, and a 60 per cent reduction worldwide since 1999.

Another successful example is the Keep up anti-malaria campaign in Africa, where several National Societies have teamed up with the International Federation to pioneer a new community-based education and follow-up programme to ensure that mosquito bed nets are properly used by people to control the spread of malaria.
“We need to see more of these types of initiatives,” said Suárez del Toro. “They are crucial if we want to scale up our humanitarian response and meet the Millennium Development Goals.”

He added that the community-level presence of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies worldwide gave them “unique insight” into the needs of vulnerable groups, enabling them to come up with local and sustainable solutions.

“The benefits of working in partnership are far greater than the sum total of our activities as individual actors,” Kellenberger said. “It would be difficult for the ICRC to protect and assist civilians during conflicts, help the wounded, visit detainees, and reunite separated families, without the support of the staff and volunteers of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide.”

As an example, he highlighted the joint efforts of the Somali Red Crescent Society and the ICRC to help victims of the recent fighting.