Every year the 8th of May is celebrated as World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. The day is celebrated as it marks the birth anniversary of Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
World Red Cross Day commemorates the principles of “International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement”. It is celebrated on May 8 to pay tribute to the people participated in the event as well as remembering their contribution to helping people in need.
World Red Cross Day being observed today
The theme for World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day 2019 is “#love” or simply "love", which will focus on asking people about what they love about Red Cross and Red Crescent. On this special day, several blood donation camps will be organised around the world and this day also offers an opportunity to provide voluntary medical services to society.
World Red Cross Day History:
Red Cross was founded as a major contribution to the peace just after World War I by an international commission established at 14th International Conference of the Red Cross. The principles of the "Red Cross Truce" was presented and approved on 15th International Conference at Japan's Tokyo in 1934 to get applicable around the world.
The permission to make "World Red Cross Day" an annual event was by the International Federation of the Red Cross Societies (IFRC) General Assembly to League of the Red Cross Societies (LORCS). Two years later, the proposal was accepted and for the first time, it was celebrated on May 8, 1948. The official title for the day was changed many times, and it became "World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day" in 1984.
This year the theme is "love", in the last few years, the theme for World Red Cross Day have been the likes of "Memorable smiles from around the world", "Less Known Red Cross Stories", "Everywhere for everyone", "Together for Humanity" and "Youth on the Move" to name a few.
