Purpose: To provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies, with respect to humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

Date of Origin: May 21, 1881

Original Membership: 12 countries originally signed the Geneva convention but by the time the Red cross was officially formed there were 32 countries that had signed the Geneva convention.

Geneva convention: This convention/treaty established the fundamental principle that "wounded or sick combatants, to whatever nation they may belong, shall be collected and cared for by doctors wearing a red cross."

Current Membership: There are 175 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and there is a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in almost every country of the world today.

Recent Participation: On August 1st, the Red Cross began to evacuate serious medical cases from the northern province of Sri Lanka called Vanni. Patients were transferred to the Mannar hospital by fishing boats protected by the Red Cross emblem. In June, the only land route to and from Vanni was closed due to military operations, and since then, the delivery of food and medical supplies into the region has come to an abrupt stop. The Red Cross has acted as a neutral intermediary between the Sri Lankan Army and the opposing LTTE to try to re-open the land route. The Red Cross will continue to help Sri Lanka's sick until the humanitarian issues that are causing problems there are resolved. The Red Cross has been in Sri Lanka since 1989.

In Afghanistan, fighting has recently resumed north of Kabul, creating a need for the Red Cross to increase its support for medical facilities in the capital and for first-aid posts near to the front line to make sure that victims of war will receive immediate care. Several hundred people have been surgically treated in hospitals since the fighting began. The Red Cross has gone further than medical help to quicken the making of amends in this internal conflict, reminding the parties of their obligations to respecting the lives of others.

After two wars and nine years of embargo, the Red Cross has decided to address Iraq's growing needs by giving medical aid as well as water and sanitation assistance. Programs are being enacted in August of 1999 to repair 10 hospitals as well as 20 health centers. In lieu of recent droughts in Iraq, the Red Cross has also made plans to improve and add on intake systems for water treatment plants so that there will be a sufficient amount of drinking water. Many buildings in Iraq suffered from the 1991 Gulf War and can no longer respond to essential needs. Many infrastructures need a good deal of repair and many machines and pieces of equipment have not been repaired. The Red Cross has been in Iraq since the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980 and has spent the last decade helping local engineers maintain water treatment plants and creating rehabilitation centers for victims of war. To finance the necessary programs which are to be implemented in Iraq, the Red Cross has made an appeal for 7.7 million Swiss francs creating a total budget for the Iraq project of 21.7 million francs.

Accomplishments:

-Helped to eradicate smallpox in 1980

-Polio is almost eradicated along with guinea-worm.

Major efforts have also been taken to curve the spread of HIV

Location: Kobe, Japan.