Red Cross Day 2020: Significance, history and all you need to know

Today on May 8 the world celebrates Red Cross Day or World Crescent Day in honour of Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the recepient of the first Nobel Peace Prize. The annual celebration falls on the date of his birth anniversary May 8, 1928.

The first Red Cross Day was celebrated on this day in 1948. While the official title of the day has changed several times, it was renamed "World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day" in 1984 and has remained as such.

The idea was to encourage humanitarian activities all across the world which would contribute to spreading peace, the initiative was first introduced after World War I. The proposal called as the "Red Cross Truce" was carefully studied and considered to understand the principles of the truce and its applicability across the world and was finally adopted.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies took to Twitter to salute the brave healthcare and medical workers working during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The tweet read: “It's already World Red Cross Red Crescent Day in some countries around the (globe)!! Today and every day let’s #KeepClapping for all volunteers and staff worldwide responding to COVID-19”.

The Red Cross Society is broadly based on seven principles like voluntary, impartiality, humanity, neutrality, universality, unity and independence.

The programmes undertaken by them can put under into 4 parts; the promotion of humanitarian principles and values; health and care, disaster response and disaster preparedness.