Red Crescent Society

Contemporary Context

Today, there are 33 countries that use the red crescent, out of a total of 186 national societies. These national societies are found in North Africa, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. However, much as the Red Cross organization values its unity, the countries with Red Crescent Societies do represent a distinct group within the larger Red Cross organization, and have their own set of concerns. Perhaps an indication of this distinctiveness can be found in the creation of various organizations with representation from Red Crescent societies. For example, certain Middle East and African national societies formed a group known as the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent. Another group was called the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization. Neither of these two groups suggests that their representative countries separate from the larger Red Cross movement. However, they are used to advance views particular to Islamic nations. For example, one of the fundamental principles espoused by the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent is that of justice. Including this as an additional fundamental principle of the entire organization would more closely associate the Red Cross/Red Crescent with a key Islamic value. However, it is unlikely that the organization will open itself up to a change that would be at odds with its core operational value of discrete, behind-the-scenes action with governments to achieve results.

Notwithstanding the issue of the emblem, and with any substantive disagreements over the organization's key values, Red Crescent societies have over the past decades found themselves at the center of genuine conflict and significant natural disasters. When examining critiques of the response to such events, differences between a Western-type approach to aid and that of a local approach are observed. However, it is not clear whether these differences are attributable to religion. One example is the response to the 2004 earthquake in Bam, Iran, which received considerable international attention and response from donors. In standard Red Cross fashion, the national society in the affected country was responsible for the relief operation, and the Iranian Red Crescent acted quickly to assess and respond while international aid and funding was organized by the Geneva-based component of the Red Cross organization. The critique of the operation noted differences in style between the relief approach of the Iranian Red Crescent and that of their international counterparts; for example, in distribution of aid. The Iranian Red Crescent chose to go door-to-door to distribute aid because it is demeaning for their citizens to use the [Page 562]internationally accepted approach of an en masse central distribution point. This is a minor point, perhaps, but it raises the questions of how much of the perceived differences between the Red Cross and the Red Crescent are, in fact, simply cultural differences that can be found across the organization; and, if there is any reason to believe that accommodation of religious or cultural differences would lead to decreased effectiveness in disaster relief. Given the Iranian Red Crescent's success in responding to the earthquake, the answer to the second question would seem to be no. Regarding the first question, it seems that the question of the red cross or red crescent symbols masks cultural differences that exist, regardless of a national society's choice of emblem.

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