ROMA – “In the Ukrainian conflict and in the Middle East, as well as in all ongoing wars – says the president of the Italian Red Cross Rosario Valastro, today, August 22, on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the First Geneva Convention – those paying the highest price are the civilian population, humanitarian workers and healthcare personnel engaged daily in the field. Every day – adds Valastro – human dignity is violated. The atrocities we witness leave us astonished because they place before Humanity such strong hatred and bitterness that they erase every form of respect for others, for life. Life itself, of every woman, man, girl and boy, is sacred and must be protected. Our founder, Henry Dunant, taught us this, and the International Community forcefully reiterated it, precisely, on August 22, 1864, with the signing of the First Geneva Convention, a text that laid the foundations of the International Humanitarian Law (DIU) contemporary”.
A revolutionary document. 160 years later – the president of the Red Cross – since that historic day that brought a revolutionary document to the world’s attention, ongoing humanitarian crises seem to call into question essential values. Guaranteeing neutrality and protection to ambulances and hospitals, to medical personnel and material, regardless of sides, protecting the civilian population, recognizing in our Emblem a symbol of protection and neutrality: all this cannot and must not be erased by violence. The protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and medical personnel – he concluded – must be guaranteed. If it is true that history teaches us to learn from the past, today’s conflicts force us to reflect on the present. The mission of all of us, today, is to shout to the entire world with even more force that Humanity cannot and must never be called into question”.
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– 2024-08-23 03:41:45
