🤝 Getting aid to people in war zones isn’t just about logistics - it’s about trust. ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric on the enduring power of the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
ICRC UK & Ireland
@icrc-uk.bsky.social
We build support for the ICRC's global operations and further understanding of international humanitarian law (IHL).
⚖️ Yesterday at Westminster, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric addressed MPs, peers, and government officials on the urgent need to uphold the rules of war. In an increasingly volatile world, strengthening respect for international humanitarian law cannot wait.
Hi, I’m Terry Hackett. I lead the ICRC’s work with people deprived of their liberty. Over the next 3 days, I’ll be sharing what our detention work looks like on the ground - how our teams support detainees, what we do, and why it matters. 📸 Me on the far left, in Venezuela.
📢#ICRCvoices | “Seeing human remains as people – not just bodies – is at the heart of forensics. It’s about protecting someone’s dignity in death.” Irish forensic specialist Niamh Smith speaks about her work in Ukraine in our new ICRC Voices article. www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
ICRC voices: Dignity for the Dead in Ukraine
icrc.org
Hi, I’m Niamh, an Irish forensic specialist working in Ukraine with the @icrc.org. For the next 3 days, I'll be posting here about my work, supporting authorities in their dignified management and identification of the deceased. 📸 On the road in Ukraine.
“What I witnessed is beyond imagination…hospitals have turned into graveyards.” Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, our colleague, Hisham, describes some of the scenes he witnessed in Gaza City and the need for civilians still there to be protected. 👇
The intensification of military operations in Gaza City has forced us to temporarily suspend operations at our office there and relocate staff to southern Gaza to ensure safety and operational continuity. We remain committed to returning as soon as conditions allow: ms.spr.ly/63329svlk1
📸 #FromTheArchives | Conflict tears families apart. In difficult times, a simple message from a loved one is enough to spark hope. In this photo from 1995, a woman in Bujumbura, Burundi, receives news from a relative via a Red Cross message.
We remain operational in Gaza City and will continue to provide the desperately needed assistance and protection activities to the most vulnerable people as long as security permits us to do so. Sarah Avrillaud, ICRC head of subdelegation in Gaza, shares 👇🏽
Yesterday, our colleague Ahmed spoke about being displaced from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah. “This is what it’s like every day for people. Many wake thinking the situation cannot get worse, but it continues to deteriorate,” he said. ➡ In his words: ms.spr.ly/6018sWmi2
When humanitarian workers and volunteers are not protected, the people we serve are the ones who suffer the most. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and their loved ones 👇🏽
Hi again, Rieke here – I’ve just left Gaza after another rotation at the Red Cross Field Hospital with the @icrc.org. In July, I told you about mass casualties, stray bullets, and shortages of medical supplies. Here's what I saw on the ground.
Hi, I’m Rieke, a physio from Ireland. I just finished a 6-week deployment to Gaza with the @icrc.org. For the next 3 days, I'll post about my experiences at the Red Cross Field Hospital. 📸 Me & my youngest patient: Malek, a 6-month-old baby who was injured in an explosion.
"With every limb saved, every smile restored, and every life pulled back from the brink, I remember why I chose this path." Egyptian anesthesiologist Dr. Aktham Al-Farnawani has worked with the ICRC from South Sudan to Nigeria. This is his story. 👇 www.icrc.org/en/article/m...
“The Man from Egypt”: Why I left the comfort of the operating room to work in conflict zones
Egyptian anesthesiologist Dr. Aktham Al-Farnawani recounts his journey from the comfort of advanced hospitals to those functioning in tents in conflict zones.
icrc.org
“Everybody works together to get these people home to their families. That’s the end goal.” Forensic specialist Niamh Smith spoke to @brykg.bsky.social for @the-independent.com about supporting the repatriation of human remains between Russia and Ukraine. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...
Inside the agonising task of identifying Ukraine’s thousands of war dead
Bryony Gooch speaks to a forensic specialist about the ongoing work to put names to bodies in Ukraine after Moscow agreed to return thousands of the fallen
independent.co.uk
📍 Yarova, Ukraine | Communities close to the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict continue to face immense loss and suffering. Juan Pedro Schaerer, ICRC head of delegation in Ukraine, shares 👇🏽
📸 #FromTheArchives | Different challenges call for different solutions. We do whatever we can to reach affected communities. 1️⃣ A plane lands in Angola, 1985. 2️⃣ A helicopter in rural Pakistan, 2005. 3️⃣ A vehicle fords a river in DRC, 2018. 4️⃣ A boat on the Amazon River, 2021.
📍 #Syria | Over the last 14 years, the ICRC has registered more than 37,000 cases of missing people. Here are the stories of five families who've lost loved ones; who continue to search, wait, grieve, and hope. www.icrc.org/en/article/s...
Syria: For families of the missing, it is answers, not time, that will heal the pain
icrc.org
Yet another rise in the number of missing people in Africa registered with the ICRC due to conflict 💔 But this figure represents just a small fraction of those who have disappeared. A stronger international response is needed. #DayOfTheDisappeared
📸 #FromTheArchives | In this photo from 1986, a woman at a refugee camp in Cambodia searches for the name of her missing relative. Behind each missing person is a family living in anguish and uncertainty. And every family deserves an answer. #FamiliesDeserveToKnow
#ICRCVoices | In our latest article, Will Carmichael speaks about his work in Syria, detecting and disposing of explosive ordnance. Landmines, IEDs and other munitions litter the country: remnants of more than 14 years of conflict. www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
ICRC voices: Contending with Syria’s deadly legacy of war
icrc.org
📍Gaza | It is unacceptable for a health facility like Nasser Medical Complex to be damaged in a strike and for medical personnel, journalists, patients & first responders to be killed and injured. Medical facilities, civilians, journalists & first responders must be protected.
My last day of posts from Syria. Before joining the ICRC, I spent 15 years in the British Army. It sounds odd, but you’re more sheltered in the military: in the ICRC you see how conflict affects civilians. 📸12 y/o Youssef was injured by a piece of ordnance he was playing with.
Will here, back for day 2 of my social media updates. With so much ordnance scattered across Syria, the risks to civilians are huge. Clearing the country will take decades (even then, I’m being optimistic). 📸 My colleague & I disposing of a projectile.
Hi, I’m Will, weapon contamination (WEC) coordinator in Syria with the @icrc.org. For the next 3 days, I'll post about my work disposing of explosive ordnance in one of the most contaminated countries in the world. 📸 My team and I on disposal duty in rural Damascus
📍 #Afghanistan | From January to June, over 100,000 people received care at ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centres. Civilians continue to bear the brunt of decades of conflict, with many wounded by landmines and explosive remnants of war. ➡ ms.spr.ly/6012spnog
#FromTheArchives: For many years, we have helped restore contact between family members separated by conflict, migration, or natural disasters. This photo from 1993 depicts a family being reunited in Croatia.
🌍 Conflict + climate change = humanitarian disaster People caught in conflict are among the most impacted by climate change. The challenges they face are compounded by violence as well as the changing environment.
📍 Georgia/South Ossetia | Conflicts in the 1990s and 2008 uprooted and displaced communities, leaving many older people in need of support. 75 y/o Manana lives alone, but is regularly visited by the ICRC who provide food parcels and other essentials. ➡️ ms.spr.ly/6019sRz9z
📍 #Afghanistan | 12 y/o Ehsan has cerebral palsy. In 2018, he began treatment at the ICRC physical rehabilitation centre in Kabul and is now enrolled in the centre’s futsal initiative, which uses sports as a pathway to healing. www.icrc.org/en/article/a...
Afghanistan: Futsal for empowering children with disabilities
Launched in 2010, the ICRC’s futsal initiative is focused on the long-term physical rehabilitation and social inclusion of children with disabilities in Afghanistan.
icrc.org
Gaza | The scale of human suffering and the stripping of human dignity have long exceeded every acceptable standard, both legal and moral. This tragedy must end now. Mirjana Spoljaric, ICRC President: ms.spr.ly/63327sGyPt