2017 Young humanitarian writers competition: Even wars have limits

The ICRC and The National Press Club Malaysia (NPC), together with the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS), celebrate the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day today by launching the 2017 Young Humanitarian Writers Competition.

This year's theme is 'Even Wars have Limits'. People aged between 16 and 30 are invited to join the competition and share their views about the chosen topic that hopes to highlight the dire humanitarian consequences in today's world, largely due to the violation of international humanitarian law, its principles and rules, and the lack of respect for principled humanitarian action.

'On this World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day as we celebrate humanity, we invite young people including journalists to write for humanity', said NPC president Datuk Mokhtar Hussain. 'Writing is one very effective way to mobilise attention publicly on pressing humanitarian issues', he added.

Echoing the sentiment, Isabelle Barras, head of ICRC's regional delegation in Kuala Lumpur, stressed the need to reaffirm the relevance of the rules protecting humanitarian workers and healthcare delivery in armed conflict. 'Through this competition, we hope writers will join in our call for compliance with international humanitarian law and an end to attacks on civilians, including humanitarian and health workers'.

Dato Sayed A. Rahman Sayed Mohd, MRCS secretary-general, encouraged the youth to call for respect of humanitarian law and principles to protect lives and prevent human suffering. 'We must not close our eyes to the immense humanitarian challenges we see in the world today', he said.

World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on 8 May every year to commemorate the founder of the Red Cross and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize, Henry Dunant, who was born on 8 May 1828.

This will be the third edition of the Young Humanitarian Writers Competition. The last day for entries is 31 October 2017. For more information about the competition, write to kualalumpur@icrc.org

For further information, please contact:
Chin Lili, ICRC, tel: 03 2084 1807, email: lchin@icrc.org
NPC, tel: 03 2694 0525, email: nationalpressclub@gmail.com
Nor Aziah Budin, MRCS, tel: 03 2143 8122, email: aziah@redcrescent.org.my