International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC (1863- )

Awarded the Prize “for the great work it has performed during the war in behalf of humanity.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross grows up from the International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded. It was established, in 1863, to care for victims of battle in time of war, but later national Red Cross societies were created to aid in the prevention relief of human suffering generally. Its peacetime activities include first aid, accident prevention, water safety, training of nurses’ aids mothers’ assistants, maintenance of maternal child welfare centres medical clinics, blood banks, numerous other services. The Red Cross is the name used in ries under nominally Christian sponsorship; Red Crescent is the name used in Muslim ries.