Clemens Bilan
On the occasion of World Red Cross Day this Saturday, the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) calls for more solidarity. Poverty, food insecurity and inadequate public health care mean that the pandemic is further exacerbating social inequalities, especially in the global South, according to a statement on Thursday.
Even poorer countries should be able to protect people belonging to a risk group as quickly as possible. To do this, they needed enough vaccine, but also massive support with the enormous logistical tasks they had to cope with.
According to their own statements, the national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies carry out prevention campaigns to cope with the pandemic, improve access to drinking water, support the local health authorities and provide direct help for particularly vulnerable people.
In Switzerland, too, the corona pandemic caused many people to find themselves in financial need. The SRK writes that self-employed people, employees from low-wage sectors or people who would have been living on the poverty line before the crisis could no longer afford essential expenses, and demands that these people continue to receive support from the Confederation and the cantons.
In 2020, the Swiss Red Cross reportedly supported people in need with immediate financial aid totaling CHF 11.5 million.
Every year on May 8th, World Red Cross Day is celebrated around the world. On this day in 1928, Henry Dunant from Geneva was born – one of the founders of the Red Cross and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, as the SRC recalls.