By the end of the year the committee had brought together government representatives to agree on Dunant's proposal for national relief societies, to help military medical services. And in August 1864 it persuaded governments to adopt the first Geneva Convention. This treaty obliged armies to care for wounded soldiers, whatever side they were on, and introduced a unified emblem for the medical services: a red cross on a white background.

The ICRC's primary role was a coordinating one. But it gradually became more involved in field operations, as the need for a neutral intermediary between belligerents became apparent. Over the following 50 years, the ICRC expanded its work while national societies were established (the first in the German State of Württemberg in November 1863) and the Geneva Convention was adapted to include warfare at sea.

The extraordinary times of a global pandemic demand extraordinary measures from the international community. We encourage States to consider all possible measures to boost production, distribution and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines both between countries and within countries, to leave no one behind.

This includes accelerating, under the World Trade Organization (WTO) umbrella, negotiations related to intellectual property and other barriers to a rapid scaling up of vaccine production all over the world. In addition, pharmaceutical companies must reach further to share the necessary technology and knowledge – and we call on states to provide them with the necessary incentives and support to do so.

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, nurses have been more than ever working on the front lines, often in difficult conditions. Some have been victims of stigma, born out of the fear of infection; others have fallen victim to the disease itself. On the occasion of the International Nurses Day, the Commission for the Florence Nightingale Medal wishes to pay special homage to the exceptional devotion of these nurses. 

The recipients were nominated by their respective National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society and selected by a commission comprised of the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Council of Nurses.