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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.

Founded in 1919, the International Federation comprises 186 member Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, a Secretariat in Geneva and more than 60 delegations strategically located to support activities around the world. There are more societies in formation. The Red Crescent is used in place of the Red Cross in many Islamic countries.

The Federation’s vision: We strive, through voluntary action, for a world of empowered communities, better able to address human suffering and crises with hope, respect for dignity and a concern for equity.

Our mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. Vulnerable people are those who are at greatest risk from situations that threaten their survival, or their capacity to live with an acceptable level of social and economic security and human dignity. Often, these are victims of natural disasters, poverty brought about by socio-economic crises, refugees, and victims of health emergencies.

The International Federation’s programmes are grouped into four main core areas: promoting humanitarian principles and values; disaster response; disaster preparedness; and health and care in the community. These activities are those which are carried out by most National Societies.

Red Cross Red Crescent promotes individual and community humanitarian values which encourage respect for other human beings and a willingness to work together to find solutions to problems. From the seven fundamental principles to the “power of humanity” slogan, the aim is to influence the behaviour of the people we work with.

Disaster response continues to represent the largest portion of our work, with assistance to around 30 million people annually from refugees to victims of natural disasters. This section includes our emergency response units and issues relating to humanitarian policies as we strive to improve the quality of our immediate response and long-term rehabilitation work.

The sharp increase in the number of natural disasters worldwide in recent years has prompted the Federation to devote more attention to disaster preparedness activities. These aim to make National Societies and communities more aware of the risks they face, how to reduce their vulnerability, and how to cope when disaster strikes.

Too many people die as a result of no access to even the most basic health services and elementary health education. Health and community care has become a cornerstone of humanitarian assistance, and accounts for a large part of Red Cross Red Crescent spending. Through these programmes, the Federation aims to enable communities to reduce their vulnerability to disease, and prepare for and respond to public health crises.

Guiding and supporting the development of its member National Societies is one of the Federation’s fundamental tasks, and runs through these four core areas and other programmes. Capacity building programmes include management and volunteer training, branch structures, planning, fund-raising and gender equality. Creating the opportunity for National Societies to network and work together is one of the Federation’s key roles.

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