malloy (canada), gunnhild myklebust (norway), sheryl thayer (new zealand), and hans elkerbout (netherlands). they were shot at point-blank range while sleeping in the early hours of 17 december 1996 in the icrc field hospital in the chechen city of nowije atagi near grozny. their murderers have never been caught and there was no apparent motive for the killings. rita fox (switzerland), véronique saro (democratic republic of the congo, formerly known as zaire), julio delgado (colombia), unen ufoirworth (dr congo), aduwe boboli (dr congo), and jean molokabonge (dr congo). on 26 april 2001, they were en route with two cars on a relief mission in the northeast of the democratic republic of the congo when they came under fatal fire from unknown attackers. ricardo munguia (el salvador). he was working as a water engineer in afghanistan and travelling with local colleagues on 27 march 2003 when their car was stopped by unknown armed men. he was shot execution-style while his colleagues were allowed to escape. he was 39 years old. the killing prompted the icrc to temporarily suspend operations across afghanistan. vatche arslanian (canada). since 2001, he worked as a logistics coordinator for the icrc mission in iraq. he died when he was travelling through baghdad together with members of the iraqi red crescent. on 8 april 2003 their car accidentally came into the cross fire of fighting in the city. nadisha yasassri ranmuthu (sri lanka). he was killed by unknown attackers on 22 july 2003 when his car was fired upon near the city of hilla in the south of baghdad. in the 2000s, the icrc has been active in the afghanistan conflict areas and has set up six physical rehabilitation centers to help land mine victims. their support extends to the national and international armed forces, civilians and the armed opposition. they regularly visit detainees under the custody of the afghan government and the international armed forces, but have also occasionally had access since 2009 to people detained by the taliban. they have provided basic first aid training and aid kits to both the afghan security forces and taliban members because, according to an icrc spokesperson, "icrc's constitution stipulates that all parties harmed by warfare will be treated as fairly as possible". in august 2021, when nato-led forces retreated from afghanistan, the icrc decided to remain in the country to continue its mission to assist and protect victims of conflict. since june 2021, icrc-supported facilities have treated more than 40,000 people wounded during armed confrontations there. among the ten largest icrc deployments worldwide has been the mission in ukraine, where the organisation has been active since 2014, working closely with the ukrainian red cross society. at first, the icrc was active primarily in the disputed regions of donbas and donetsk, assisting persons injured by armed confrontations there. when russia invaded ukraine on 24 february 2022, the fighting moved to more populated areas in the eastern, north and south ukraine. the head of the icrc delegation in kyiv warned on 26 february 2022 that neighborhoods of major cities are becoming the frontline with significant consequences for their populations, including children, the sick and elderly. the icrc had urgently called on all parties to the conflict not to forget their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of the civilian population and infrastructure, and respect the dignity of refugees and prisoners of war. history henry davison, founding father of the league of red cross societies in 1919, representatives from the national red cross societies of britain, france, italy, japan, and the us came together in paris to found the "league of red cross societies" (ifrc). the original idea came from henry davison, who was then president of the american red cross. this move, led by the american red cross, expanded the international activities of the red cross movement beyond the strict mission of the icrc to include relief assistance in response to emergency situations which were not caused by war (such as man-made or natural disasters). the arc already had great disaster relief mission experience extending back to its foundation. the formation of the league, as an additional international red cross organization alongside the icrc, was not without controversy for a number of reasons. the icrc had, to some extent, valid concerns about a possible rivalry between the two organizations. the foundation of the league was seen as an attempt to undermine the leadership position of the icrc within the movement and to gradually transfer most of its tasks and competencies to a multilateral institution. in addition to that, all founding members of the league were national societies from countries of the entente or from associated partners of the entente. the original statutes of the league from may 1919 contained further regulations which gave the five founding societies a privileged status and, due to the efforts of henry davison, the right to permanently exclude the national red cross societies from the countries of the central powers, namely germany, austria, hungary, bulgaria and turkey, and in addition to that the national red cross society of russia. these rules were contrary to the red cross principles of universality and equality among all national societies, a situation which furthered the concerns of the icrc. the first relief assistance mission organized by the league was an aid mission for the victims of a famine and subsequent typhus epidemic in poland. only five years after its foundation, the league had already issued 47 donation appeals for missions in 34 countries, an impressive indication of the need for this type of red cross work. the total sum raised by these appeals reached 685 million swiss francs, which were used to bring emergency supplies to the victims of famines in russia, germany, and albania; earthquakes in chile, persia, japan, colombia, ecuador, costa rica, and turkey; and refugee flows in greece and turkey. the first large-scale disaster mission of the league came after the 1923 earthquake in japan which killed about 200,000 people and left countless more wounded and without shelter. due to the league's coordination, the red cross society of japan received goods from its sister societies reaching a total worth of about $100 million. another important new field initiated by the league was the creation of youth red cross organizations within the national societies. a stamp from the faroe islands a stamp from turkey a joint mission of the icrc and the league in the russian civil war from 1917 to 1922 marked the first time the movement was involved in an internal conflict, although still without an explicit mandate from the geneva conventions. the league, with support from more than 25 national societies, organized assistance missions and the distribution of food and other aid goods for civil populations affected by hunger and disease. the icrc worked with the russian red cross society and later the society of the soviet union, constantly emphasizing the icrc's neutrality. in 1928, the "international council" was founded to coordinate cooperation between the icrc and the league, a task which was later taken over by the "standing commission". in the same year, a common statute for the movement was adopted for the first time, defining the respective roles of the icrc and the league within the movement. during the abyssinian war between ethiopia and italy from 1935 to 1936, the league contributed aid supplies worth about 1.7 million swiss francs. because the italian fascist regime under benito mussolini refused any cooperation with the red cross, these goods were delivered solely to ethiopia. during the war, an estimated 29 people died while being under explicit protection of the red cross symbol, most of them due to attacks by the italian army. during the civil war in spain from 1936 to 1939 the league once again joined forces with the icrc with the support of 41 national societies. in 1939 on the brink of the second world war, the league relocated its headquarters from paris to geneva to take advantage of swiss neutrality. peace nobel prize ceremony in 1963. from left to right: crown prince harald of norway, king olav of norway, icrc president leopold boissier, league chairman john a. macaulay. in 1952, the 1928 common statute of the movement was revised for the first time. also, the period of decolonization from 1960 to 1970 was marked by a huge jump in the number of recognized national red cross and red crescent societies. by the end of the 1960s, there were more than 100 societies around the world. on 10 december 1963, the federation and the icrc received the nobel peace prize. in 1983, the league was renamed to the "league of red cross and red crescent societies" to reflect the growing number of national societies operating under the red crescent symbol. three years later, the seven basic principles of the movement as adopted in 1965 were incorporated into its statutes. the name of the league was changed again in 1991 to its current official designation the "international federation of red cross and red crescent societies". in 1997, the icrc and the ifrc signed the seville agreement which further defined the responsibilities of both organizations within the movement. in 2004, the ifrc began its largest mission to date after the tsunami disaster in south asia. more than 40 national societies have worked with more than 22,000 volunteers to bring relief to the countless victims left without food and shelter and endangered by the risk of epidemics. activities organization entry to the international red cross and red crescent museum in geneva a turkish red crescent staff conducting activities for children altogether, there are about 97 million people worldwide who serve with the icrc, the international federation, and the national societies, the majority with the latter. fundamental principles at the 20th international conference in neue hofburg, vienna, from 2–9 october 1965, delegates "proclaimed" seven fundamental principles which are shared by all components of the movement, and they were added to the official statutes of the movement in 1986. the durability and universal acceptance is a result of the process through which they came into being in the form they have. rather than an effort to arrive at agreement, it was an attempt to discover what successful operations and organisational units, over the past 100 years, had in common. as a result, the fundamental principles of the red cross and red crescent were not revealed, but found – through a deliberate and participative process of discovery. that makes it even more important to note that the definition that appears for each principle is an integral part of the principle in question and not an interpretation that can vary with time and place. fundamental principles of the red cross and red crescent movement principledefinition humanitythe international red cross and red crescent movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. it promotes mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples. impartialityit makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. it endeavours to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress. neutralityin order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature. independencethe movement is independent. the national societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with the principles of the movement. voluntary serviceit is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain. unitythere can be only one red cross or one red crescent society in any one country. it must be open to all. it must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory. universalitythe international red cross and red crescent movement, in which all societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in