International Committee of the Red Cross

International Committee of the Red Cross
Comité international de la Croix-Rouge
Formation17 February 1863 (1863-02-17)
TypeInternational NGO
PurposeProtecting victims of conflicts and providing them with assistance
HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
Coordinates46°13′39″N 6°08′14″E / 46.2274°N 6.1373°E / 46.2274; 6.1373
Region served
Worldwide
FieldHumanitarianism
President
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger
Vice President
Gilles Carbonnier
Director-General
Robert Mardini
Budget
CHF 1576.7 million (2016)[1]
203.7 m for headquarters
1462.0 m for field operations
Staff
15,448 (average number of ICRC staff in 2016)[2]
Award(s)
Websitewww.icrc.org

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; French: Comité International de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and promoting humanitarian norms.[3]

State parties (signatories) to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977 (Protocol I, Protocol II) and 2005 have given the ICRC a mandate to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. Such victims include war wounded persons, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants.[4]

The ICRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, along with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and 191 National Societies.[5] It is the oldest and most honoured organization within the movement and one of the most widely recognized organizations in the world, having won three Nobel Peace Prizes (in 1917, 1944, and 1963).[6]

  1. ^ "Annual Report 2016, Key facts and figures" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Annual Report 2016, Key facts and figures" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  3. ^ Finnemore, Martha (1996), "Norms and War: The International Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions", National Interests in International Society, Cornell University Press, pp. 69–88, doi:10.7591/9781501707384-004, ISBN 978-1-5017-0738-4, archived from the original on 1 February 2024, retrieved 1 February 2024
  4. ^ "Discover the ICRC". 2007. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2009. p.6.
  5. ^ "National Society Directory - IFRC". Archived from the original on 8 July 2006. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Nobel Laureates Facts – Organizations". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 November 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2009.