The International Federation of Red Cross

and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

History
In 1919, representatives from the national Red Cross societies of Britain,
France, Italy, Japan, and the US came together in Paris to found the
"League of Red Cross Societies". The original idea was Henry Davison's,
then president of the American Red Cross. This move, led by the American
Red Cross, expanded the international activities of the Red Cross
movement beyond the strict mission of the ICRC to include relief
assistance in response to emergency situations which were not caused by
war (such as man-made or natural disasters). The ARC already had great
disaster relief mission experience extending back to its foundation. The
formation of the League, as an additional international Red Cross
organization alongside the ICRC, was not without controversy for a
number of reasons. The ICRC had, to some extent, valid concerns about a
possible rivalry between both organizations. The foundation of the League
was seen as an attempt to undermine the leadership position of the ICRC
within the movement and to gradually transfer most of its tasks and
competencies to a multilateral institution. In addition to that, all founding
members of the League were national societies from countries of the
Entente or from associated partners of the Entente. The original statutes
of the League from May 1919 contained further regulations which gave
the five founding societies a privileged status and, due to the efforts of
Henry P. Davison, the right to permanently exclude the national Red Cross
societies from the countries of the Central Powers, namely Germany,
Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, and in addition to that the national
Red Cross society of Russia. These rules were contrary to the Red Cross
principles of universality and equality among all national societies, a
situation which furthered the concerns of the ICRC. The first relief
assistance mission organized by the League was an aid mission for the
victims of a famine and subsequent typhus epidemic in Poland. Only five
years after its foundation, the League had already issued 47 donation
appeals for missions in 34 countries, an impressive indication of the need
for this type of Red Cross work. The total sum raised by these appeals
reached 685 million Swiss francs, which were used to bring emergency
supplies to the victims of famines in Russia, Germany, and Albania;
earthquakes in Chile, Persia, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and
Turkey; and refugee flows in Greece and Turkey. The first large-scale
disaster mission of the League came after the 1923 earthquake in Japan
which killed about 200,000 people and left countless more wounded and

without shelter. Due to the League's coordination, the Red Cross society of
Japan received goods from its sister societies reaching a total worth of
about $100 million. Another important new field initiated by the League
was the creation of youth Red Cross organizations within the national
societies. A joint mission of the ICRC and the League in the Russian Civil
War from 1917 to 1922 marked the first time the movement was involved
in an internal conflict, although still without an explicit mandate from the
Geneva Conventions. The League, with support from more than 25
national societies, organized assistance missions and the distribution of
food and other aid goods for civil populations affected by hunger and
disease. The ICRC worked with the Russian Red Cross society and later the
society of the Soviet Union, constantly emphasizing the ICRC's neutrality.
In 1928, the "International Council" was founded to coordinate
cooperation between the ICRC and the League, a task which was later
taken over by the "Standing Commission". In the same year, a common
statute for the movement was adopted for the first time, defining the
respective roles of the ICRC and the League within the movement. During
the Abyssinian war between Ethiopia and Italy from 1935 to 1936, the
League contributed aid supplies worth about 1.7 million Swiss francs.
Because the Italian fascist regime under Benito Mussolini refused any
cooperation with the Red Cross, these goods were delivered solely to
Ethiopia. During the war, an estimated 29 people lost their lives while
being under explicit protection of the Red Cross symbol, most of them due
to attacks by the Italian Army. During the Civil War in Spain from 1936 to
1939 the League once again joined forces with the ICRC with the support
of 41 national societies. In 1939 on the brink of the Second World War, the
League relocated its headquarters from Paris to Geneva to take advantage
of Swiss neutrality. In 1952, the 1928 common statute of the movement
was revised for the first time. Also, the period of decolonization from 1960
to 1970 was marked by a huge jump in the number of recognized national
Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. By the end of the 1960s, there were
more than 100 societies around the world. On December 10, 1963, the
Federation and the ICRC received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1983, the
League was renamed to the "League of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies" to reflect the growing number of national societies operating
under the Red Crescent symbol. Three years later, the seven basic
principles of the movement as adopted in 1965 were incorporated into its
statutes. The name of the League was changed again in 1991 to its
current official designation the "International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies". In 1997, the ICRC and the IFRC signed the Seville
Agreement which further defined the responsibilities of both organizations
within the movement. In 2004, the IFRC began its largest mission to date
after the tsunami disaster in South Asia. More than 40 national societies

have worked with more than 22,000 volunteers to bring relief to the
countless victims left without food and shelter and endangered by the risk
of epidemics.

Persekutuan Antarabangsa Palang

Merah dan Bulan Sabit Merah (IFRC)
Sejarah
Pada tahun 1919, wakil-wakil dari negara masyarakat Palang Merah
Britain, Perancis, Itali, Jepun, dan Amerika Syarikat datang bersama-sama
di Paris untuk menemui "Liga Palang Merah Pertubuhan". Idea asal adalah
Henry Davison, maka Presiden Palang Merah Amerika. Langkah ini, yang
diketuai oleh Palang Merah Amerika, memperluaskan aktiviti
antarabangsa pergerakan Palang Merah di luar misi ketat ICRC untuk
termasuk bantuan bantuan sebagai tindak balas kepada situasi
kecemasan yang tidak disebabkan oleh peperangan (seperti buatan
manusia atau bencana alam ). ARC sudah mempunyai besar bantuan
bencana pengalaman misi melanjutkan kembali kepada asasnya.
Pembentukan Liga, sebagai organisasi antarabangsa Palang Merah
tambahan bersama dengan ICRC, tidak tanpa kontroversi kerana
beberapa sebab. ICRC mempunyai, sedikit sebanyak, kebimbangan sah
tentang persaingan mungkin di antara kedua-dua organisasi. Asas Liga
dilihat sebagai satu percubaan untuk melemahkan kedudukan kepimpinan
ICRC dalam gerakan dan secara beransur-ansur memindahkan
kebanyakan tugas dan kompetensi kepada sebuah institusi pelbagai hala.
Di samping itu, semua anggota pengasas Liga ialah masyarakat negara
dari negara-negara Entente atau dari rakan-rakan bersekutu Entente.
Ketetapan asal Liga dari Mei 1919 yang terkandung peraturan-peraturan
selanjutnya yang memberikan lima masyarakat pengasas status yang
istimewa dan, disebabkan usaha Henry P. Davison, hak untuk selamalamanya tidak termasuk negara masyarakat Palang Merah dari negaranegara Kuasa Tengah iaitu Jerman, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria dan Turki,

dan sebagai tambahan kepada bahawa negara masyarakat Palang Merah

Rusia. Peraturan-peraturan ini adalah bertentangan dengan prinsip-prinsip
Palang Merah kesejagatan dan kesaksamaan di kalangan semua
masyarakat negara, keadaan yang melanjutkan kebimbangan ICRC. Yang
pertama misi bantuan bantuan dianjurkan oleh Liga merupakan misi
bantuan untuk mangsa kebuluran dan wabak tifus berikutnya di Poland.
Hanya lima tahun selepas penubuhannya, Liga telah dikeluarkan 47
rayuan derma bagi misi di 34 buah negara, petunjuk mengesankan
keperluan untuk jenis kerja Palang Merah. Jumlah keseluruhan yang
dibangkitkan oleh rayuan ini mencapai 685 juta francs Switzerland, yang
telah digunakan untuk membawa bekalan kecemasan kepada mangsamangsa kebuluran di Rusia, Jerman, dan Albania; gempa bumi di Chile,
Parsi, Jepun, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, dan Turki; dan pelarian
mengalir di Greece dan Turki. Misi bencana besar pertama Liga datang
selepas gempa bumi 1923 di Jepun yang mengorbankan kira-kira 200,000
orang dan meninggalkan banyak lebih terluka dan tanpa perlindungan.
Oleh kerana penyelarasan Liga, masyarakat Palang Merah Jepun
menerima barangan dari masyarakat kembarnya mencecah bernilai kirakira $ 100 juta. Satu lagi bidang baru yang penting yang dimulakan oleh
Liga ialah mewujudkan organisasi belia Palang Merah dalam masyarakat
negara. Satu misi bersama ICRC dan Liga dalam Perang Saudara Rusia
1917-1922 menandakan kali pertama gerakan terlibat dalam konflik
dalaman, walaupun masih tanpa mandat yang jelas dari Konvensyen
Geneva. Liga, dengan sokongan daripada lebih 25 persatuan kebangsaan,
misi bantuan dianjurkan dan pengedaran makanan dan barang-barang
bantuan lain untuk penduduk awam yang terlibat dengan kebuluran dan
penyakit. ICRC bekerja dengan Rusia Palang Merah masyarakat dan
kemudian masyarakat Kesatuan Soviet, sentiasa menekankan berkecuali
ICRC. Pada tahun 1928, "Majlis Antarabangsa" telah ditubuhkan untuk
menyelaras kerjasama antara ICRC dan Liga, satu tugas yang
kemudiannya diambil alih oleh "Suruhanjaya Tetap". Pada tahun yang
sama, suatu ketetapan umum bagi gerakan telah diterima pakai untuk kali
pertama, menentukan peranan masing-masing ICRC dan Liga dalam
gerakan. Semasa perang Abyssinian antara Ethiopia dan Itali 1935-1936,
Liga menyumbang bekalan bantuan bernilai kira-kira 1.7 juta franc
Switzerland. Kerana rejim fasis Itali itu di bawah Benito Mussolini menolak
sebarang kerjasama dengan Palang Merah, barang-barang ini telah
dihantar semata-mata untuk Ethiopia. Semasa perang, dianggarkan 29
orang kehilangan nyawa mereka semasa berada di bawah perlindungan
jelas lambang Palang Merah, sebahagian besar daripada mereka kerana
serangan oleh Tentera Itali. Semasa Perang Saudara di Sepanyol 19361939 Liga sekali lagi bergabung tenaga dengan ICRC dengan sokongan 41
persatuan kebangsaan. Pada tahun 1939 di ambang Perang Dunia Kedua,

Liga memindahkan ibu pejabatnya dari Paris ke Geneva untuk mengambil

kesempatan daripada berkecuali Switzerland. Pada tahun 1952, 1928
statut bersama gerakan telah disemak semula untuk kali pertama. Selain
itu, tempoh dekolonisasi 1960-1970 ditandai dengan peningkatan besar
dalam bilangan diiktiraf kebangsaan Palang Merah dan Bulan Sabit Merah
masyarakat. Pada akhir tahun 1960-an, terdapat lebih 100 masyarakat di
seluruh dunia. Pada 10 Disember 1963, Persekutuan dan ICRC menerima
Hadiah Nobel Keamanan. Pada tahun 1983, Liga telah ditukar nama
kepada "Liga Palang Merah dan Bulan Sabit Merah" untuk menunjukkan
bilangan yang semakin meningkat daripada masyarakat nasional yang
beroperasi di bawah lambang Bulan Sabit Merah. Tiga tahun kemudian,
tujuh prinsip asas pergerakan seperti yang diterima pakai pada tahun
1965 telah dimasukkan ke dalam undang-undang itu. Nama Liga telah
berubah sekali lagi pada tahun 1991 kepada jawatan semasanya rasmi
"Persekutuan Antarabangsa Palang Merah dan Bulan Sabit Merah". Pada
tahun 1997, ICRC dan IFRC menandatangani Perjanjian Seville yang lanjut
ditakrifkan tanggungjawab kedua-dua organisasi dalam gerakan. Pada
tahun 2004, IFRC memulakan misinya terbesar setakat ini selepas
bencana tsunami di Asia Selatan. Lebih daripada 40 persatuan
kebangsaan telah bekerja dengan lebih daripada 22,000 sukarelawan
untuk membawa bantuan kepada mangsa-mangsa yang tidak terkira
banyaknya ditinggalkan tanpa makanan dan tempat tinggal dan terancam
dengan risiko wabak penyakit.