More than 10,000 young Red Cross and Red Crescent leaders and volunteers from 140 countries gathered in northern Italy from 17-23 June to celebrate the centenary of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The weeklong “4th International Solferino Youth Meeting” included a series of workshops for hundreds of young Red Cross and Red Crescent leaders, focusing on major humanitarian challenges such as climate change, as well as some of the world’s most pressing and protracted crises. They also contributed to the development of IFRC’s new Strategy 2030 that will guide the organization’s work for the coming decade.
The week culminated on 22 June with the annual Fiaccolata — a candle-lit march involving thousands of volunteers between Solferino and Castiglione delle Stiviere.
Roger Muller of Marshall Islands Red Cross Society is the first Marshallese Red Cross member to attend the event. The Pacific Red Cross region this year came together for the first time to attend the Solferino Celebration.
“Young people are the present and the future of our organizations,” said IFRC President Francesco Rocca. “We need their strength, passion, vision and commitment to reach more people in need, to scale up our activities and to identify and effectively respond to new humanitarian priorities. They are inspiring and give me hope that our network will remain as relevant and effective for another hundred years.”
Read more about this in the July 5, 2019 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.