The International Committee of the Red Cross is formally a legally-based Swiss organization, founded in 1863 by Henry Dunant, who had been impressed by the horrors witnessed on the Solferino battlefield.
The ICRC mandate is established by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its three Protocols (of 1977 and 2005), by the Statutes of the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and by the resolutions and decisions adopted during the International Conferences of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, involving all State Parties of the Geneva Conventions and the National Societies. Is an “impartial, neutral and independent” organization, whose mission is exclusively humanitarian and aimed at protecting life and dignity of victims of armed conflicts, providing them with assistance. The ICRC President, who must be a Swiss citizen according to its Statute, is Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, since 1est October 2022, succeeding to Peter Maurer and becoming the first woman holding this position in the history of the organization. Since 1st April 2024, Pierre Krähenbühl has been appointed as Director General of the ICRC, succeeding to Robert Mardini at the end of his 4-years mandate.
The Committee is present in more than 90 countries and provides humanitarian assistance to victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. Currently the main activities are in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel, Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Ethiopia. Other than the humanitarian activity, the Committee monitors the compliance with the International Humanitarian Law and promotes its diffusion.
Together with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the ICRC constitutes the “International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent”, whose main body is the Permanent Commission, composed of nine members, which chairs an International Conference of the entire Movement every four years in Geneva. The 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent took place in Geneva from the 28th to the 31st October 2024, and brought together representatives of 196 State Parties to the Geneva Conventions, 191 National Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). Convened on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions, the Conference aimed to strengthen International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and address emerging humanitarian challenges, such as climate change, natural disasters and the evolution of ICTs during armed conflict. Italy took up a significant role during the Conference, presenting two pledges to improve the protection and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including armed conflicts and disasters, and to reinforce the cooperation between the Italian Government and the Italian Red Cross, as an auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field.
Website: www.icrc.org