The Red Cross

Art by Darick Ritter

The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) was created to help vulnerable people endangered by war. It came into being with the Geneva Conventions—the international laws that bind states to protect the wounded, captured, and incidentally affected in conflict.

One of its key tasks is to track people who are injured or captured in war and get that information to their families. All countries are supposed to take basic information—name, rank—from anyone they capture, kill, or take into their hospitals. It's why soldiers wear dog tags or other identifiers: so anyone who finds them can get the information to the Red Cross.

The ICRC then shares the information with the person's home army and loved ones. In this way, the ICRC helps to track people who are missing as a result of war, whether they are injured, POWs, killed, or civilian refugees. Families shouldn't have to wonder where their loved ones are, and militaries should know where their soldiers are. The ICRC is a critical neutral party to help facilitate this flow of information in times of crisis.

Learn more about the ways the Red Cross keeps loved ones connected in times of war and peace: https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities/hero-care-network.html

To donate to the Red Cross efforts in Ukraine, click here: https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine