IRRC No. 888

An institution standing the test of time? A review of 150 years of the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross

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This article seeks to explain how the ICRC – the oldest international humanitarian organization still in activity – has managed to pass through 150 years of existence. By analysing some key moments in ICRC history and by examining both its inner workings and their interaction with the context within which the organization has functioned over time, this article finds two characteristics that may help explain the ICRC's continuity: its unique specificity and its innovative capacity.

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An institution standing the test of time? A review of 150 years of the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross author: Daniel Palmieri

11 min read

Birth of an idea: the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: from Solferino to the original Geneva Convention (1859–1864) author: François Bugnion

12 min read

1863: the creation of the first National Society at the beginning of the Movement’s history author: Stefanie Haumer

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Looking back over 150 years of humanitarian action: the photographic archives of the ICRC author: Valérie Gorin

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The ICRC and the detainees in Nazi concentration camps (1942–1945) author: Sébastien Farré

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‘Organising the unpredictable’: the Nigeria–Biafra war and its impact on the ICRC author: Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps

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Complementarity between the ICRC and the United Nations and international humanitarian law and international human rights law, 1948–1968 author: Katharine Fortin

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New technologies and new policies: the ICRC’s evolving approach to working with separated families author: Olivier Dubois, Katharine Marshall, Siobhan Sparkes McNamara

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A new challenge or a new role? The ICRC in Northern Ireland author: Geoff Loane

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Challenges to international humanitarian law: Israel’s occupation policy author: Peter Maurer

3 min read

International humanitarian law, ICRC and Israel’s status in the Territories author: Alan Baker

3 min read

Médecins Sans Frontières and the ICRC: matters of principle author: Rony Brauman

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