L’AQUILA – The awarding of honorary citizenship of L’Aquila to the Red Cross was unanimously approved by the City Council on 29 April.
Yesterday the ceremony was held in the council chamber of Palazzo Margherita in the presence of the national president of the CRI, Rosario Valastro, the presidents of the Abruzzo regional committee and the L’Aquila committee, Gabriele Perfetti and Marco Antonucci. Also present were the volunteer nurses from L’Aquila and all the volunteers.
“An important recognition – declared the National President of the Italian Red Cross, Rosario Valastro – which goes first of all to the Volunteers who rushed here in the moments following the 2009 earthquake, to be close to the women, men and children who they had lost not only their homes but also their loved ones. Since those first days of the emergency our commitment has never ceased and even today we stand alongside this community, as with anyone who finds themselves in a vulnerable condition. This is our commitment, the commitment of an Italy that helps. It is an honor to receive the citizenship of L’Aquila, a city that we all have in our hearts.”
Mayor Biondi presented President Valastro with the parchment of honorary citizenship, while President Santangelo, on behalf of the entire Municipality, donated the volume ‘Santa Maria di Collemaggio – the Basilica of Forgiveness’.
The remains of the regional and provincial committees and the medal celebrating the 160th anniversary of the foundation of the Italian Red Cross were delivered to the Municipality, the latter being a gift from the national president.
“The honorary citizenship recognized by the Municipality of L’Aquila – declared the president of the Abruzzo regional committee, Gabriele Perfetti – is the materialisation of the goodwill that the citizens of L’Aquila feel towards the Italian Red Cross and for every single member of this historic humanitarian organisation” .
“Today – commented the provincial president, Marco Antonucci – is the day of our Volunteers employed daily, in our territory, in multiple activities from healthcare to social activities, always alongside vulnerable people. Thanks go to the Municipality, the Mayor and the President of the City Council for this important recognition”.
160 years of the Red Cross
The history of the Red Cross begins with the Battle of Solferino and San Martino, on 24 June 1859, during the Second Italian War of Independence. In this conflict, three hundred thousand soldiers belonging to three distinct armies (French, Sardinian-Piedmontese and Austrian) clashed, leaving around one hundred thousand dead, wounded and missing on the ground. The nearest town, Castiglione delle Stiviere, became an important relief center for the wounded, with the local hospital taking in nine thousand wounded.
From this tragedy the Red Cross was born, inspired by the experience of Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman who witnessed the battle. Dunant, driven by compassion for the wounded and abandoned soldiers, wrote the book ‘A Memory of Solferino’ in 1862, in which he described the desperate conditions of the wounded proposing the establishment of an international organization for the relief of the wounded and sick in war.
The Geneva Convention of 22 August 1864, signed by 16 nations, formalized the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which include humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, volunteerism, unity and universality. These principles underlie the action of the international Federation, national societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in favor of the most underprivileged in the world.
The Italian Red Cross, founded in 1864, is one of the main Italian humanitarian organizations, which works to provide medical assistance, relief and protection to civilians and soldiers in crisis and conflict situations. Its history is linked to that of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which today is present in 192 nations and represents one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world.
