The Finnish Red Cross (FRC, fi, Suomen Punainen Risti, sv, Finlands Röda Kors) is an independent member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is one of the biggest and best-known international organisations in the world and in the field of humanitarian aid. FRC has over 90,000 members and around 45,000 active volunteers in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. FRC consists of 12 regional chapters and 550 local branches throughout the country. The current General Secretary is Ms. Kristiina Kumpula. At the end of 2006, the FRC employed 1,168 people, of which 136 worked at the headquarters in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. The Finnish Red Cross is based on

volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serv ...

and has branches in almost every

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in Finland. The

organisational structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the foundat ...

has three layers: local branches, regional chapters, and the national headquarters. At the local level, the activities of the branches are determined to a large part by how dedicated their members are.

History of the Finnish Red Cross

Finnish Red Cross was founded on May 7, 1877, to care for the wounded and sick soldiers of the Finnish Guard in the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

. The FRC was recognized by the

ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

in 1920 and became a member of

IFRC The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

in 1922, when

ratified the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...

. In 1948 the FRC took the operational responsibility of the

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...

services in Finland, which had been operated by the Finnish Scouts since 1935. The FRC Blood Service is a legally independent organization.

Domestic operations

The Blood Service complements the national health services and is at the same time an important component of FRC's overall structure. The FRC also runs a national AIDS helpline and organises campaigns. In addition, it trains and finds support persons for HIV infected and their families. Finnish Red Cross Drug and Alcohol programme includes prevention work and early intervention. FRC has

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

who act as counsellors in schools and other communities in their own expertise. At the summertime they will be on call almost at hundred of festivals discussing intoxicant use. The FRC holds a

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

known as Hunger Day every autumn, usually in September. The campaign has an annual theme; in 2006 people were reminded how desertification,

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing and storms most affect the children under five years of age. On the day fundraisers can be seen in front of

grocery stores A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

and other public places. In schools

school meals A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

can be reduced and served, for example, without salad, bread or milk. The FRC trains over 80,000 people yearly on the

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

and

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

courses for the general public and companies. FRC has more than 550 first aid groups around the country with more than 8,000 volunteers. These groups are on duty daily in the majority of public events in

. They can also help in search and rescue when requested by the authorities. FRC also coordinates the Voluntary Rescue Service which is formed by over 40 civic organisations and over 30,000 volunteers. The FRC has a national emergency group of psychologists which organises and coordinates psycho-social support in situations they are needed, for example after the Jokela school shooting. FRC's Disaster Relief Fund is used to give assistance in accidents and due to social reasons. Domestic aid was about FIM 3.6 million (US$955,000) in 2001.

Finnish Red Cross youth

The organisation also has youth programs and youth based operations. Members between 13 and 29 years of age compose 10% of all members and operate on all levels of the organisation. It was decided in the Finnish Red Cross 2008 national meeting that youth work will be supported also in the future, and that the goal for 2011 is to gain 5% more youth members.

International operations

The Finnish Red Cross gives

international aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

– personnel,

funds Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

, material – in response to appeals from the International Movement. There are two main sources for funds: FRC's Disaster Relief Fund and the

Finnish government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , cou ...

. In recent years, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

has also provided funds. Disaster relief is given to victims of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

and natural disasters. Development cooperation improves the capacities and

disaster preparedness Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actual ...

of newly established sister societies or those with fewer resources. The FRC maintains its own Logistics Centre and International Personnel Reserve in Finland. The Disaster Relief Fund provides funds when needed. Funds are collected continuously and preferably as non- earmarked. FRC's International Personnel Reserve comprises about 600 professionals trained on FRC's basic and further training courses. Approximately 100 of them work in international assignments every year. FRC is also a member organisation of the

European Council on Refugees and Exiles Established in 1974, ECRE is a European network of 105 NGOs in 39 European countries. In 2011, the council raised concerns regarding planned repatriations of Afghan asylum children. In 2014, the council was critical of EU cutbacks of migrant r ...

(ECRE) and Reuter's AlertNet network.

References

External links

The Finnish Red CrossFinnish Red Cross Blood ServiceFRC's Disaster Relief FundDare to Care – The Finnish Red Cross youth pages
{{Authority control Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies 1877 establishments in Finland Organizations established in 1877 Organisations based in Helsinki Medical and health organisations based in Finland