On 19 March 2024, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) held its annual Day of Remembrance. Each year we honour and pay tribute to our colleagues who have lost their lives or who have been seriously injured while performing their humanitarian duties.

Two years since the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, fighting and shelling are still everyday realities for millions of people living in Ukraine. The scale of destruction is immense. Ukrainians have lost their loved ones, homes, and livelihoods, and are struggling to get the basics necessary for survival.

As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the New Zealand Red Cross stand in solidarity with the humanitarian efforts of our Movement colleagues at the ICRC, the IFRC, Magen David Adom in Israel, and Palestine Red Crescent Society as they respond to the escalation of violence and displacement in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

March 21 is the International Committee of the Red Cross annual Day of Remembrance. It’s when we honour and pay tribute to our colleagues who have lost their lives or who have been seriously injured while performing their humanitarian duties.

There are more than 13,000 nuclear weapons in the world, many on ‘hair trigger’ alert status, ready to be launched at a few minutes notice, writes Dr Rebecca Dudley.