The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, sex, religious beliefs, class or political opinions^{[citation needed]}.

The movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations. The movement's parts are:

Until the middle of the 19th century, there were no organized and/or well-established army nursing systems for casualties and no safe and protected institutions to accommodate and treat those who were wounded on the battlefield. In June 1859, the Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant traveled to Italy to meet French emperor Napoléon III with the intention of discussing difficulties in conducting business in Algeria, at that time occupied by France. When he arrived in the small town of Solferino on the evening of June 24, he witnessed the Battle of Solferino, an engagement in the Austro-Sardinian War. In a single day, about 40,000 soldiers on both sides died or were left wounded on the field. Jean-Henri Dunant was a shocked by the terrible aftermath of the battle, the suffering of the wounded soldiers, and the near-total lack of medical attendance and basic care. He completely abandoned the original intent of his trip and for several days he devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care for the wounded. He succeeded in organizing an overwhelming level of relief assistance by motivating the local villagers to aid without discrimination.

Mohammed Omer (born 1984) is a Palestinian journalist. He has reported for numerous media outlets, including: the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,;Al Jazeera;New Statesman;Pacifica Radio; Electronic Intifada;The Nation;Inter Press Service;Free Speech Radio News; Vermont Guardian; ArtVoice Weekly; the Norwegian Morgenbladet; and Dagsavisen; the Swedish dailies Dagen Nyheter; and Aftonbladet; the Swedish magazine Arbetaren; the Basque daily Berria; and the German daily Junge Welt; and the Finish magazine Ny Tid. He also founded the Rafah Today blog

In 2008, Omer was awarded the 2007 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. In the award citation, Omer was honored as "the voice of the voiceless" and his reports were described as an "humane record of the injustice imposed on a community forgotten by much of the world.". Noam Chomsky said he had been following Omer's work for several years, and was pleased to learn of his award, "an honor that he richly deserves." He went on, he "...has continued his work with courage and integrity. It is no exaggeration to say that he can serve as a model of honorable journalism,". He was also awarded the Ossietzky Prize by Norwegian P.E.N in 2009. Norwegian P.E.N is a branch of P.E.N International. The Prize was awarded for "outstanding achievements within the field of free expression". He was also given an honorable mention in Pulse Media's 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009.

Mukesh Kapila CBE has worked extensively and advised in crisis and conflict management, humanitarian affairs, post-conflict recovery and development, and HIV and AIDS. Kapila is currently Special Representative for the Aegis Trust.

Kapila's background is in medicine, public health and, subsequently, international development and humanitarian affairs. He has qualifications from the Universities of Oxford and London.

As a mid-level civil servant in 1994, he was part of the first British teams to see the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide after entering Rwandan Patriotic Front-controlled Kigali.

He was the Deputy Director of the National UK AIDS programme during the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

He was Head of Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs unit of the British Department for International Development from 1998 to 2002. From 2002-2003, Kapila was a Special Adviser to the United Nations, first to the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Afghanistan and then to the High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2003-2004 Kapila was the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, and the UN Development Program Resident Representative for the Sudan.