What Services Are Provided By The Red Cross?
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are considered to be the largest humanitarian help network system in the world, providing aid to those in need. Their compassionate services encompass many different areas, all geared towards helping victims of natural disasters, war, and other unforeseen catastrophes.
Global education, combined with organization and development efforts, enable the Red Cross to implement programs for disaster preparedness, health care activities, and the promotion of humanitarian values. Their mandate also includes fighting diseases such as HIV, tuberculoses and malaria, and also to protect and assist people affected by armed conflicts, discrimination and other situations of violence, while at the same time promoting human rights.
Be it at a disaster area or teaching volunteers during a training course, First Aid is one of the most important, and recognizable activities the Red Cross gets involved in. Furthermore, are they also one of the leading promoters and organizer of blood drives around the world, and as part of their community services, the Red Cross will also raise funds to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable communities and their distressed members.
Red Cross Action Teams look after injured soldiers, prisoners of war, detainees or refuges, as well as children separated from their families due to unforeseen circumstances. They will also care for ordinary civilians whose basic needs are unmet due to a catastrophe. This may require delivering food, drinking water, housing, medical supplies, and the staff to administer vital medical care.
Outside of the universal goals and visions shared by all Red Cross divisions, each country or district will have their own objectives. A perfect example is the Croatian Red Cross, which is intensely involved in the process of tracing people who were separated from their families due to war. The Croatian Red Cross involvement may revolve around receiving, processing and distributing family messages, organizing reunions, cooperating with International Tracing Services, and even assisting in the release of prisoners of war and incarcerated civilians, all noble causes required to help war victims.