Portuguese Red Cross
The Portuguese Red Cross , Portuguese (CVP), is an aid organization based primarily on the work of volunteers and, as Portugal's national Red Cross Society, part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement . The seat is in Lisbon .
It was founded on February 11, 1865, making it one of the oldest Red Cross societies in the world. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recognized it as a national aid society within the meaning of the Geneva Conventions and the statutes of the movement on July 13, 1887 . On July 14, 1919, the Portuguese Red Cross became a member of the League of Red Cross Societies, which was founded in the same year and is now the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies .
history
The army doctor José António Marques is considered to be the founder of the Portuguese Red Cross , who in 1864 represented Portugal as a delegate at the diplomatic conference in the Swiss city of Geneva that led to the conclusion of the first Geneva Convention . In February 1865 the "Portuguese Aid Commission for Wounded and Sick Soldiers in Time of War" ( Comissão Portuguesa de Socorros a Feridos e Doentes Militares em Tempo de Guerra ) was created as a forerunner organization of the Portuguese Red Cross.
The Portuguese Red Cross is one of the few organizations that has been accepted as an institution in the French Legion of Honor . It received this recognition for its work during the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871. Later on, the Portuguese Red Cross also completed several major missions abroad, for example from 1936 to 1939 in the civil war in Portugal's neighboring country, Spain , in the context of the dispute over the independence of the Portuguese Colony Portuguese-India between 1961 and 1962, in Romania in 1989/1990 and in the conflicts in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. There were further relief efforts in various disasters at home and abroad.
organization
The Portuguese Red Cross is divided into 25 regional departments ( Delegações ) and 154 local local groups ( Núcleos ). The headquarters of the organization is in the capital Lisbon . The highest decision-making body is the General Assembly ( Assembleia Geral ) , which consists of all members . The executive committee ( Direcção Nacional ) elected by the General Assembly is active, including the President, the Vice-Presidents and the General Secretary. A supreme council ( Conselho Supremo ) acts as a consultative body . In addition to the members of the national executive committee, this consists of eleven representatives from various ministries, one representative of the Portuguese Bishops' Conference and 20 members elected by the General Assembly. In addition, the Honorary President, line ministers, and former presidents, vice-presidents and general secretaries may attend meetings of the Board of Governors if they so choose.
The President of the Portuguese Red Cross is appointed by a joint decision of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense. The organization proposes three candidates for selection. The term of office of the President is three years and re-election up to three times is possible. The majority of the previous presidents were senior members of the army. Eduardo da Silva Barbosa has been the current president since July 29, 2005 . The current President of Portugal acts as Honorary President ( Presidente de Honra ).
activities
The Portuguese Red Cross has around 700 full-time employees and around 5,000 volunteers and has an annual budget of around 4.2 million euros. Current activities focus on health-related and social services and on developing the organization, including increasing membership and improving equipment and training at local and regional levels.
In the field of social services, for example, aid stations, hospitals , a military home, local health projects as well as aid projects for members of social minorities, the elderly, the homeless and drug addicts. It is also active in civil protection and first aid training and maintains a nursing college in Oliveira de Azeméis ( Escola Superior de Enfermagem da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa ).
The main activities of the youth of the Portuguese Red Cross ( Corpo da Juventude da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa ) are the social integration of disabled young people , the dissemination of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and school courses in first aid.
At the international level, the Portuguese Red Cross works with the ICRC and the Federation in a number of aid projects. There are also bilateral cooperation agreements with national companies in Portuguese-speaking countries.
literature
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: Directory of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. ( PDF version, approx. 260KB )
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: Profile of the Portuguese Red Cross. In: Partnerships in profile 2002-2003. ( PDF version, approx. 42KB )
- Rafael Marques: Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa. Quarteto Editora, Coimbra 2000, ISBN 972-8535-29-5
Web links
- Official Website (Portuguese)
Individual evidence
- ^ Presidentes Nacionais. (No longer available online.) Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa, archived from the original on January 7, 2017 ; Retrieved January 7, 2017 (Portuguese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
