This think piece is part of the materials produced in advance of the 2024 International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations Conference (IVCO 2024), hosted by Northumbria University in partnership with Comhlámh. It is available in English, Spanish and French.
In 1862, Swiss businessman Henri Dunant authored ‘A Memory of Solferino’, inspired by his experiences at the Battle of Solferino in 1859. In this influential work, Dunant described the compassionate actions of the women of Castiglione, who cared for all the wounded regardless of their nationality, embodying a spirit of universal camaraderie and expressing this sentiment with the phrase ‘Tutti Fratelli’ (all brothers). Dunant's reflections led him to propose the creation of relief societies in peacetime to care for the wounded during wars by zealous and devoted volunteers. This concept laid the foundation for establishing the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) National Societies and the Movement in 1864. This historical event, the birth of the Red Cross Red Crescent International Movement, is a testament to the power of solidarity, human compassion and the potential of voluntary service.
With 191 National Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Movement is the oldest and most widespread humanitarian network globally, with 15.5 million volunteers currently active. These volunteers are vital to responding to various crises, including natural disasters, conflicts, and health emergencies. Often hailing from affected communities, these volunteers provide essential services, including medical aid, disaster relief, and community support. Their efforts address immediate needs and contribute to communities' long-term recovery and resilience, helping to rebuild the social fabric and foster social cohesion.
The nature of volunteering has evolved as societies and their forms of organisation and needs have changed. The recognition of growing and intersecting crises provides important new contexts for thinking about volunteering, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has long experience of mobilising volunteers in response to humanitarian crises. Volunteering is not uniform across contexts or crises, taking place both through formal structures, as well as informally. Volunteering through organisations involves structured systems for mobilising and managing volunteers. It is accompanied by agreed practices and codes of behaviour which, in the case of the Red Cross Red Crescent, are particularly consistent with its Fundamental Principles. In contrast, informal volunteering may be less organised and harder to quantify, occurring when individuals or groups come together independently to provide aid. This presents challenges for organisations and the wider sector, since integrating different forms of volunteerism that operate in very different ways is not straightforward. While the cause needs to be championed over the organisation, this is hard to realise in practice. But recognising and valuing all forms of volunteerism is crucial to fostering a sense of inclusivity and unity within the humanitarian community.....