Our world. Your move. A global campaign of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The year 2009 has great significance for the Red Cross and Red Crescent: it marks the 150th anniversary of the battle of Solferino and the 60th anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. In observance of these anniversaries, the Movement has launched a campaign, Our World. Your Move, to remind everyone of his or her individual responsibility to lessen human suffering.
In images
Campaign film: Simple gestures
5-11-2009 Video Collection
Haiti: the enduring cycle of violence and poverty Brice Osmer lost his arm in 2005 after being hit by a stray bullet near his home in Cité Soleil. Shortly thereafter, his wife was shot in the stomach and barely survived. Violence affects 98% of the population of this sprawling shanty town, one of the poorest in the Western hemisphere, hindering people's ability to work and thus put food on the table for their families.
13-10-2009 Video Collection
Afghanistan: sorrow beyond words - James Nachtwey's photos James Nachtwey, a celebrated war photographer, went to Afghanistan in 2009 for the ICRC. He witnessed the hardships of some of the country's most vulnerable people. This collection of his work gives a glimpse of the human cost of war through his eyes.
28-9-2009 Video Collection
Haïti: saving lives in Cité Soleil Violence is on the rise again as gang members struggle for power in Cité Soleil, the sprawling slum in Port-au-Prince. Haitian Red Cross volunteers put their lives on the line as they evacuate the sick and wounded from communities caught in the crossfire such as Martissant, the setting of this film.
27-8-2009 Video Collection
Trauma healing and reconciliation in Liberia Along with their children, the women of Liberia have borne the brunt of 14 years of war, enduring trauma beyond imagination. The Lutheran Church of Liberia's Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Programme provides free counselling to women to help them identify coping mechanisms to deal with past trauma and current hardships.
19-8-2009 Video Collection
A new life for Afghanistan's amputees Najmuddin suffered a personal tragedy more than 20 years ago when both his legs had to be amputated above the knee because of a landmine explosion. Today, he is a director of the ICRC's Orthopaedic Centre in Kabul where he meets and treats the victims of mines and improvised explosive devices every day.
18-8-2009 Video Collection
DR Congo: bringing families back together Shukuru is one of hundreds of children who lost touch with his family when fighting intensified in Eastern Congo last year. Like many others, he was feared to be dead. The joy of his relatives was endless when he finally returned home with the help of the ICRC.
17-8-2009 Video Collection
Rebuilding after the hurricanes in Haiti Building back better after the four consecutive killer storms that ravaged Haiti in 2008 is a major challenge that is being taken up by the Haitian Red Cross, among others. This film is set in the hurricane-ravaged city of Gonaives, where people are very concerned about what may lie in store for the 2009 hurricane season.
These eight contexts were chosen for the campaign as together they illustrate the many phases of conflict (war, transition, post-conflict reconstruction) and the long-term impact it has on generations of people.
Opinion survey
Our world. Views from the field. The ICRC has carried out different quantitative and qualitative research initiatives on the impact of armed conflict on civilians and behaviour during armed conflict. The results give a powerful insight into the experiences and opinions of civilians coping with some of the most harrowing situations in the world.
From the field
21-10-2009 Feature
Former child soldier: 'They would point a gun at me and tell me to kill someone, so I did' The testimony below is that of a 17-year-old former child soldier and current student of the Child Advocacy and Rehabilitation Centre (CAR) run by the Liberian Red Cross, which supports children who were affected by Liberia’s 14-year civil war. Students between the ages of 10 and 18 are provided with psychosocial counselling, skills training such as tailoring and masonry, recreational activities and accelerated learning programmes.
Caring for civilians caught up in war – the story of an ambulanceman in Sderot Avraham is an ambulanceman with the Magen David Adom in Sderot, an Israeli town near the Gaza Strip. He sometimes transports seriously ill Palestinians to hospital who cannot obtain the necessary treatment in Gaza. He believes that hoping is not enough; he says you have to act, because that is what gives life meaning.
Our world: views from the field – in images To mark the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC conducted an opinion survey in eight countries affected by armed conflict. The newest findings indicate that an overwhelming majority of people agree that even wars should have limits, but far fewer are aware that rules on warfare already exist. The research results are illustrated here by award-winning photographers from the VII photo agency.
Lionel Messi and other celebrities back Our world. Your move. campaign Geneva – Argentine footballer Lionel Messi is lending his support to the Our world. Your move. campaign – an initiative by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to raise awareness of today's humanitarian challenges and highlight the power of individuals to make a big difference.
22-10-2009 News release
Iran: photo exhibition opens as part of worldwide campaign to alleviate suffering Tehran (ICRC) – A photo exhibition entitled Humanity in War, organized by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), will open on 24 October at the Iranian Red Crescent's Peace Art Gallery in Tehran.
