The International Committee of the Red Cross in the light of its functions as a main actor in the humanitarian assistance process

Abstract

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been and still remains the main actor in the process of managing humanitarian assistance. However, this fact is obvious if, at least, we refer to the principles that guide this organization in its daily activity, constantly facing difficulties and challenges of the most different kinds, but, at the same time, remaining faithful to the ideals identified by the founding fathers. Today, the ICRC carries out its humanitarian assistance activity practically all over the world, where there is a need for help given to victims, whether it is armed conflicts, natural disasters or any other crises with negative effects from a humanitarian point of view. The ICRC is a specific, if not unique, actor in the provision of humanitarian assistance, being also the depository of the main international agreements in the field of international humanitarian law – Geneva Conventions I-IV of 1949, Additional Protocols I-II of 1977 and Additional Protocol III of 2005. The role of the ICRC in the process of humanitarian assistance is an impeccable one, the organization having an irreproachable authority throughout the world, an authority that has largely been accumulated thanks to the preservation of neutrality and non-involvement on the part of one or the other party to the conflict. Thus, the ICRC contributes substantially to the promotion of generally human values, among which humanitarian assistance to persons whose vulnerability becomes critical in the conditions of the crises faced by modern societies is obviously listed.