Henry Dunant Medal Explained

The Henry Dunant Medal is the highest award of the Red Cross Movement. It is named after Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross Movement. The medal is presented every two years by the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. This body represents the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the various National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

History

In 1963, the idea of creating a medal named in honour of the founder of the International Red Cross was submitted to and approved by the Council of Delegates. This coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Red Cross. In 1965, through the generosity of the Australian Red Cross, the Henry Dunant Medal was established by the International Red Cross Conference in Vienna.^[1] The first medals were presented in 1969.^[2]

Criteria

The Henry Dunant Medal is awarded by the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. This body, representing all of the groups making up the Red Cross Movement, makes five awards of the medal every two years. These limits are placed to ensure the value and prestige of the medal as the highest honour the Red Cross Movement can bestow upon one of its members.^[1]

The medal is awarded to, "recognise and reward outstanding services and acts of great devotion, mainly of international significance, to the cause of the Red Cross/Red Crescent by any of its members". The Standing Commission gives special weight to the international significance of the a potential recipients' acts or service. If the international dimension is lacking, the Commission would likely not select the individual concerned. Though their acts of service may be great, but would likely best be recognized by their National Society.^[1]

Regulations still allow for the posthumous award of the medal. However, the various groups of the movement have been encouraged to create other means of recognition for those killed in service to the Red Cross. All posthumous nominations for the Henry Dunant Medal should be for, "truly exceptional cases."^[1]

Description

The Henry Dunant Medal is in the shape of a Geneva or Greek cross. The arms of the cross are colored with red enamel. In the center of the cross is a circular bronze medallion bearing effigy of Henry Dunant, facing left. Circumscribed around the effigy are the words HENRY DUNANT 1828-1910. The reverse of the medal is plain. To the top arm of the cross is attached a loop for ribbon suspension.^[3]

The ribbon is depicted as either solid green,^[3] or green with red edges.^[4]

Recipients

Name	Nationality	Gender	Year	Notes
		Male	1969
		Male	1969
Robert Carlson	Sweden	Male	1969
	Switzerland	Male	1969	First living recipient of the medal, former ICRC Delegate.
	Japan	Female	1971
	France	Male	1971
	Hungary	Female	1971
	Canada	Male	1971
		Male	1971
John MacAulay^[5]		Male	1973	Chairman of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1959 to 1965, first Canadian recipient.
	Russia	Male	1975
	United Kingdom	Female	1975
	Switzerland	Male	1975
	Mexico	Male	1975
Irena Domanska		Female	1975
	Spain	Male	1977
	France	Female	1977
		Male	1977	A member of Myanmar Red Cross Society, for saving a soldier whose car fell into the Ayeyarwady River which was icy cold at that time.
	Germany	Female	1977
	Australia	Male	1979
	Switzerland	Male	1979
	Switzerland	Male	1979
		Male	1979
George Aitken	Canada	Male	1979
		Male	1979
	Switzerland	Male	1979
		Male	1979
	Ireland	Female	1979
		Female	1979
		Female	1981
		Male	1981
	Switzerland	Male	1981
		Female	1981
	Germany	Male	1983
Abdul Aziz Mudarris^[6]		Male	1983	Established the Saudi Red Crescent in 1962, he was the first President of the Saudi Red Crescent
		Male	1983
		Male	1983
	Denmark	Male	1983
	United States	Male	1983
	Germany	Male	1983
		Female	1985
		Male	1985
	Switzerland	Female	1987
	Germany	Male	1987
		Male	1987
		Female	1987
Joseph Adefarasin^[7]		Male	1987	Former President of the Red Cross League, first Nigerian recipient.
	Spain	Male	1987
		Male	1987
	Ethiopia/Sweden	Male	1987
		Male	1989
		Male	1989
	United States	Male	1989
	Australia	Male	1989
		Male	1989
		Male	1989
		Female	1991
		Male	1991
	Hungary	Male	1991
	Switzerland	Male	1991
		Male	1991
		Male	1991
	New Zealand	Male	1991
		Male	1991
	Switzerland	Male	1991
	Switzerland	Male	1991
		Male	1991
		Male	1991
	Switzerland	Female	1993
Jock Sutherland	New Zealand	Male	1993
		Male	1993
		Male	1993	President of the Jordanian Red Crescent Society from 1964 to 1993.^[8]
		Male	1993
	United Kingdom	Male	1993
	Switzerland	Male	1993
		Male	1993
	Switzerland	Male	1993
	Switzerland	Male	1993
		Male	1993
	Belgium	Male	1993
		Female	1993
		Female	1993
		Male	1995
	Germany	Male	1995
		Male	1995
		Male	1995
	Switzerland	Male	1995
	France	Female	1995
	New Zealand	Female	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
	Switzerland	Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
	Italy	Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Male	1997
	Italy	Male	1997
		Male	1997
		Female	1997
Reto Neuenschwander	Switzerland	Male	1997
Véronique Ahouanmenou		Female	1997
Fernanda Calado	Spain	Female	1997
	Norway	Female	1997
	Norway	Female	1997
	Canada	Female	1997
	Germany	Female	1999
		Male	1999
		Male	1999
	Canada	Male	1999
		Female	2001	Former President of the Cambodian Red Cross.
Roger Durand^[9]	Switzerland	Male	2001	Founder and president of the Henry Dunant Society and former Vice-president of the Geneva Red Cross.
	Australia	Female	2003	Former deputy Secretary General of the Australian Red Cross and promoter of International Humanitarian Law
	Switzerland	Male	2003	Former ICRC field delegate and author of a history of the ICRC and the Movement
		Male	2003	Legal scholar and a specialist in International Humanitarian Law
Monique Basque^[10]		Female	2003	Former President of the Red Cross of Côte d'Ivoire
	Sweden	Female	2005	Former President of the Swedish Red Cross and member of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
		Male	2005	Of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society
	Switzerland	Male	2005	(posthumously). Main architect of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and former Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
	Norway	Male	2005	Former President of the Norwegian Red Cross.
The Volunteers of the Indonesian Red Cross Society, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, the Indian Red Cross Society, and the Thai Red Cross Society^[11]	–	–	2005	The volunteers and staff of the Red Cross Societies of the four countries most severely affected by the devastating tsunami of 26 December 2004 - India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand
	France	Female	2007
	Australia	Male	2007	Former secretary general of the Australian Red Cross and Australian Minister of Health from 1982 to 1983.
		Male	2007	Former head of the Congolese Red Cross tracing service in Ituri and head of the ICRC delegation in Bunia.
	Switzerland	Male	2007	Former ICRC delegate and survivor of the attack on the Red Cross hospital in the Chechen town of Novye Atagi, in 1996.
		Female	2009
		Male	2009
	Switzerland	Male	2009
		Male	2009
		Male	2009
		Female	2009	Former Malaysian Red Crescent Society secretary-general.^[12]
		Male	2011	Former president of the Ethiopian Red Cross and former minister of labour and social affairs of Ethiopia.
	Norway	Female	2011	Former president of the Norwegian Red Cross and former president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
		Male	2011
Barges Hamoud Al-Barges^[13]		Male	2013	Founding member and former president of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society.
	Italy	Male	2013	A member of the Italian Red Cross, he has worked in Afghanistan continuously since 1990 (except for a short mission in Sarajevo in 1993), running a network of orthopedic centers since 1994.
		Male	2013	Former chairman of the Uganda Red Cross Society and a founding member of the New Partnership for African Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (NEPARC).
		Female	2013	Former president of the Honduran Red Cross and former chair of the Inter-American Regional Committee.
		Female	2015
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan		Male	2015
Mamdouh Kamal Gabr		Male	2015
	United Kingdom	Male	2015
	Germany	Male	2017
Arthur Agany Poole	South Sudan	Male	2017
Michael Meyer	United Kingdom	Male	2019
Mario Villaroel Lander	Venezuela	Male	2019
Manuela Cabero Morán	Spain	Female	2019

J. Edwin Lloyd, 19xx, Liberian clergyman, former president of the Liberian National Red Cross Society (1986-1989)

External links

List of winners

Notes and References

Web site: What is the Henry Dunant Medal . Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent . 13 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140814020612/http://www.standcom.ch/h-dunant-medal/ . 14 August 2014 .
International Review of the Red Cross. November 1969. 9. 104. 607. 0020-8604. XXIst INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE RED CROSS. 11 December 2013. 10.1017/s0020860400063555. j. p .
Web site: International Committee of the Red Cross, Henry Dunant Medal. www.medal-medaille.com. 12 December 2013.
Web site: Henry Dunant Medal 2011. Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. 12 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140814052654/http://www.standcom.ch/henry-dunant-medal-2011/#!prettyPhoto. 14 August 2014. dead.
Web site: John MacAulay 1959-65. Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement History. International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. 11 December 2013. 10 March 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010310010351/http://www.redcross.int/en/history/not_macaulay.asp. dead.
Eighth Award of the Henry Dunant Medal. International Review of the Red Cross. 23. 234. June 1983. 0020-8604. 163. 10.1017/S0020860400069175. free.
Book: Annual Report. International Committee of the Red Cross. 76643262. 1987. International Committee of the Red Cross. 11 December 2013.
Henry Dunant Medal. International Review of the Red Cross. 33. 297. December 1993. 0020-8604. 487. 10.1017/S0020860400082139.
Web site: Henry Dunant Medals Awarded. ICRC. 11 December 2013. 11 November 2001.
Web site: Henry Dunant medals awarded 30-11-2003 News Release 03/77. International Committee of the Red Cross. 13 December 2013.
Web site: ICRC. Henry Dunant medals awarded at Red Cross Red Crescent Council of Delegates . 2005-11-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120511014106/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/council-delegates-news-171105.htm. 11 May 2012.
Web site: Red Cross and Red Crescent honours remarkable humanitarians. OCHA . 6 Dec 2022.
Web site: 2013 Henry Dunant Medal Winners. standcom.ch. Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. en-US. 2018-05-06.