CONTRIBUTION OF RED CROSS SOCIETYS IN NEPAL

Red Cross Society

In 1859 AD, Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss national had gone to Italy on vacation. It was the time when the great Battle of Solferino was going on in Italy. By chance Jean Henri Dunant reached the battle field. Forty thousand people were killed or injured. No one was there to help the war victims. There were neither doctors nor nurses or hospitals to treat them nor anybody to carry them away. Jean Henri Dunant was very shocked with this incident and resolved to help them. Jean Henri Dunant urged the women to take care and to supply the bandages, children to carry water and others to help the wounded. Collective efforts improved the situation within five weeks. After three years Jean Henri Dunant wrote a book- “A Memory of Solferino” in which he appealed to “the group of volunteers in all countries to help the victims of war or natural calamities like earthquake”. In 1863 AD, the delegates from 16 countries got together in Switzerland and founded the international Red Cross. Its flag has a red cross on white background. The flag is made in an honour of Switzerland. The Swiss flag has a white cross on a red background. In 1864 AD an international conference was held in Geneva, the capital of Switzerland. The delegrates from 12 countries attended this conference and they signed in an agreement that neither red cross volunteers nor wounded soldiers would be attacked. Now, the agreement also protects war prisoners and civilians. This conference is called the Geneva Convention.

Red Cross Society has now spread all over the world. 175 countries of the world including Nepal have set up national branches of Red Cross Society. Its headquarters is in Geneva. Muslim countries use a Red Crescent on a white flag and call themselves Red Crescent Society.
The basic principles of Red Cross Society are humanity, freedom, unity, neutrality, voluntary services and non-alignment. In the beginning the society was founded to help the wounded soldiers in the war but now it has extended its services in various sectors. Some of the works done by Red Cross Society are:

• To provide food, clothes and other basic things to the victims of natural calamities like flood, earthquakes, hurricane, etc.
• To rehabilitate refugees and homeless.
• To provide medical treatment and distribute medicines free of cost.
• To run blood transfusion programmes by setting up blood banks.
• To provide training on home management for women in remote villages of developing countries.
• To keep the record of prisoners and missing people.

Red Cross Society is funded either by the government grants or by voluntary contributions. The society also gives first aid training and looks after the physically challenged people. It also conducts rescue services.
Despite of being poor, Jean Henri served the poor and needy people for 15 years. Evaluating his great contributions, Jean Henri was rewarded the Nobel Prize in 1910 AD.
Nepal Red Cross Society was established in 1963 AD. Since then, it has been very active in providing its services to the needy people. The services rendered by Nepal Red Cross Society includes helping people during natural calamities like flood, earthquake, landslides, etc established blood banks, ambulance service, etc.