A rare casual stroll one summery morning in Monaco left me feeling rather pensive. On the railings outside the Red Cross buildings in Monaco hung 40 photographs. The exhibition was titled "Humanity in War". The images reflected the true suffering of the wars through the ages dating back to the Solferino battle which took place on 24th June, 1859. It was this war that gave birth to the organisation as we know it today, The Red Cross.

The Monaco Red Cross was created by Prince Louis II on March 3rd 1948. By 2009, 48 staff were employed and 479 people acted as volunteer workers.

This exhibition marked the centenary of the death of Henry Dunant, 30 October 1910 and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in partnership with the French Red Cross decided to continue to tour the collection of photographs in 2010 in France which was initiated in Paris and Perpignan (International Photojournalism Festival "Visa pour l'image").

Henry Dunant witnessed the Solferino war, and together with some local women, helped the wounded and the dying for three whole days and nights. He became the founder of the Red Cross and remains the father of action and of international humanitarian law. The exhibition "Humanity in War 'is a tribute to the millions of victims of conflict. It also shows how slow and difficult the construction of international humanitarian law is, a law which commits the state to having responsibility, but also on those citizens on the obligation to respect and enforce it.

The exhibition of these wonderful photographs were on show until 15th September 2010 at 27 boulevard de Suisse, Monaco. If you think you have problems, spare a momentary thought for those who have no choice when caught up in the wars throughout the world today.

Photo Credit Croix-Rouge Monégasque - Eric MATHON.

ICRC publication 1986  ref. 0361 by Henry Dunant

This is the book that prompted the creation of what is now a worldwide movement with millions of members and made the name of Henry Dunant known everywhere. The account has moved many people and still does today. "One finishes this book cursing war", wrote the Goncourt brothers in the nineteenth century. Since it was first published in 1862, the book has been translated into so many languages and reprinted so many times that it is difficult to know how many versions exist throughout the world.

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The Monaco Red Cross

27 bd de Suisse - 98 MC Monaco
Tel: 00 377 97 97 68 00  Fax: 00377 93 15 90 47
email: redcross@croix-rouge.mc