Daily Times

The World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8 since 1984 every year. The day was observed for the first time on May 8, 1948, while the idea for celebrating the day was advanced at a meeting held in Tokyo, Japan in 1934.

8^th May, 1828 marks the birth of the founder of Red Cross Movement and International Committee of Red Cross Jean Henri Dunant. Thus, the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day provides excellent opportunity to pay homage to its founding father and tribute to the volunteers engaged in selfless humanitarian service.

The vision of setting a world-wide humanitarian agency was developed by Henri Dunant when he witnessed the sufferings during Solferino Battle in 1859. Today, with the organs of ICRC and IFRC, Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the largest humanitarian network with presence and activities in almost every country.

The movement is widely acknowledged as an ambassador of help and compassion. The movement was started in Europe as Red Crescent Society but in 1876, after Turkey adopted the name, the movement spread to other parts of the world, including the Muslim majority regions.

The activities of National Societies have since changed to reflect the requirements, to move from curative to preventive medicine and to concentrate on broader problems of public health and hygiene. The Red Cross had also played an effective part in persuading people to donate blood when the blood transfusion programme was developed.

The facility of blood transfusion by Red Cross and Red Crescent agency  is the main function in the times of peace and war alike. However, Sindh provincial branch of Pakistan Red Crescent Society has preferred to close down its well-established blood-bank and transfusion service providing timely assistance to the needy for decades.

Similarly, the word ‘Rescue’ also seems to be unknown in the sphere of emergency response sector of the Sindh branch.

It is high time to leave ‘Cosmetic’ approach of purely humanitarian issues and revise the legislation governing the Red Crescent Movement in Pakistan in order to meet the demands of time.

The activities of Red Cross and Red Crescent are described in four Geneva conventions and Additional Protocols I and II. Amongst these documents, additional protocol II is most important for conflict zones in the present day world. It concerns internal conflict or civil war in which the government of a country finds itself at grips with rebel forces.

It also covers the protection of rebel forces and the like. It further provides a body of rules aimed at safeguarding certain basic values such as respect for physical and moral basic values of the individual and the decent treatment for individuals deprived of freedom.

Similarly, protocol I is equally significant because it is related to international armed conflicts, prohibits random attacks against civilians and the livestock and restricts massive air bombardments. The protocol I makes it mandatory for the parties involved in conflicts to provide medical aid and food to civilians, otherwise permit relief supplies by the ICRC. It is an irony of fate that the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement commemorates World Red Cross and Red Crescent day of 2018 in a situation when the world and especially Afro-Asian countries are in a state of turmoil.

Syria is the most glaring example where implementation of Red Cross protocols are facing big hurdles. The innocent men, women and children are being mercilessly butchered at the hands of fighting forces. Additionally, physical presence of the world powers, including Russia, is fueling the fire.

Several other countries like United States and Iran are also stated to be supporting one or the other combatants in the area, whereas United Nations also seems to be helpless in protecting human lives from bloodshed.

And while we commemorate the day, the people of Palestine, Kashmir, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan and Myanmar are facing acts of the forces in power and the innocent and destitute population living in conflicts zones are anguishly looking across the horizon for a Jean Henri Dunant-like ‘Saviour’ to come.