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
13-1-2010 Video Collection
Be the change that you want to see in the world! For more than 150 years, the ICRC has responded to the needs of the victims of violence all over the world. Lots remain to be done to assist the most vulnerable. Famous cricket player Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actress Nandita Das give their voice to the Red Cross/Red Crescent call for voluntarism. The onus is on each one of us to make our planet a better place to live.
17-12-2009 Video Collection
South Ossetia: bringing medical care to the elderly More than a year on from the conflict between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, the lives of thousands remain in limbo. In the ruins of Satskheneti village in South Ossetia, there are just five elderly people remaining. Joyce Hood, an ICRC nurse, brings medical care to these people once a week, and is particularly close to one old couple, Natella and Volodya. This is their story.
17-12-2009 Video Collection
South Ossetia: living in limbo Zoia Tigiev's life has been on hold since her 30-year-old son Tamaz went missing in August 2008. He was last seen on their farm when their village in South Ossetia came under attack from Georgian forces. Zoia remains in a kind of limbo – unable to mourn and move on until she knows for certain what happened to her son.
17-12-2009 Video Collection
Georgia: dilemma of the displaced Two thousand Georgians living in Upper Kodori Gorge, an area of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia, fled when Russian planes bombed the area in August 2008. They have been living in collective centres in Kutaisi and Tbilisi.
18-11-2009 Video Collection
DR Congo: giving lost children the chance of a new life In August 2008, hostilities resumed between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and fighters of the National Congress for the Defence of the People. Over 250,000 civilians were forced to flee, sometimes repeatedly. In the chaos, families were separated, children were lost. The ICRC works with the Don Bosco centre, an orphanage in Goma, to reunite children with their families.
17-11-2009 Video Collection
Philippines: protecting the lives and dignity of detainees James Nachtwey, a well-respected war photographer, went to the Philippines in 2009 for the the ICRC. He witnessed the hardships of some of the country's most vulnerable people: detainees and people displaced by conflict. For more than 17 years, the ICRC has been visiting people detained in connection with armed conflicts and other situations of violence in the Philippines.
10-11-2009 Video Collection
Mines continue to shatter lives in Colombia In February 2009 Francisco, 20, and a friend from his hamlet set off to earn a day's wage and unknowingly stepped into a mine field. Francisco survived, but at a terrible cost. This is his story. In Colombia, many lives are broken in rural communities who continue to suffer due to the use of landmines.
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. In 2009, the ICRC carried out an opinion survey and in-depth research 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. This document contains the final consolidated results of the survey.
From the field
11-11-2009 Feature
Colombian: a displaced mother who lost 2 sons: "you never get over it" Millions of people have been displaced over decades of armed conflict in Colombia, and tens of thousands are missing. Cruz del Carmen faces a triple tragedy: her husband was killed, two of her children are missing, and she was displaced from her farm twelve years ago.
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.
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.
Our world at war: 10 multimedia clips from 8 conflict zones Five award-winning war photographers from the VII photo agency – James Nachtwey, Franco Pagetti, Antonin Kratchovil, Ron Haviv and Christopher Morris - and the ICRC united to bring individual stories of loss and suffering in war to the forefront of the world’s attention: women struggling to recover from sexual violence, families coping with displacement, and people victimized by gang warfare. The project also drew attention to the inspirational efforts, by ordinary men and women, to limit human suffering in some of the most violent corners of the world. This DVD features 10 multimedia clips from eight war-affected countries.
