The Archives hold records documenting the activities of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (formerly called the League of Red Cross Societies) that date from the foundation of the League in 1919.
The principle topics are: governance of the IFRC; disaster relief operations; refugee relief operations; health, especially nursing education, blood donation / transfusion, community health; Junior Red Cross (children); Centenary of the Red Cross; Red Cross; Red Crescent and peace.
Please direct all enquiries about a person who was the victim of an armed conflict during the 20th century (prisoner-of-war, civilian held captive, deceased or interned) to the International Committee of the Red Cross Archives.
Key publications of the IFRC are available on-line. Out-of-print publications are available for consultation in the archives.
The archival records are open to the public by appointment with the archivist, and in accordance with the following access conditions:
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- IFRC publications that the secretariat makes available for sale to the public or distributes to the public for free.
- Decisions of the General Assembly, and policies and reports adopted through a decision, except for those decisions, policies and reports designated confidential by the General Assembly.
- Decisions of the Governing Board, and reports adopted through a decision, except for those decisions and reports designated confidential by the Governing Board.
- Minutes and reports of statutory bodies more than 20 years old.
- Non-confidential files of the secretariat that are more than 30 years old.
- The secretariat classifies as public the following records:
- The period after which a record becomes public is calculated from the date on which the record is closed.
- Records classified confidential, which are generally records containing personal data, are closed to the public.
Contact the archivist
For further information on the archives, or to arrange an appointment with the archivist, please contact the archivist at the secretariat in Geneva:
Archivist
Tel: +41 22 730 42 39
Fax: +41 22 733 03 95
E-mail: secretariat@ifrc.org (please add "Archives" in the subject line of your e-mail)
Archives of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Some National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies maintain archives documenting the activities of the National Society. Several National Society archives have e-mail addresses and/or web sites (see below). For further information on the archives of a specific National Society, please contact the National Society directly.
American Red Cross
Email: RedCrossHistory@usa.redcross.org
Web site
Australian Red Cross
Email: heritage@redcross.org.au
Web site
Belgian Red Cross (Flemish section)
Contact the State Archives in Belgium
British Red Cross
Email: enquiry@redcross.org.uk
Web site
French Red Cross
Email: virginie.alauzet@croix-rouge.fr
Web site
German Red Cross
Email: archiv@drk.de
Web site
Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: pbc_dpt@rcs.ir
Japanese Red Cross Society
The archives of the Japanese Red Cross Society are held in two locations:
Japanese Red Cross Society Headquarters, Information Plaza: info@jrc.or.jp
Japanese Red Cross Toyota College of Nursing Library: libr@rctoyota.ac.jp
Norwegian Red Cross
E-mail: nrx.center@redcross.no
Web site
The Red Cross of Serbia
Web site
Turkish Red Crescent Society
E-mail: arsiv@kizilay.org.tr