Several women participated in the meeting:
Madame Domanska: (Polish Red Cross)
Madame Zabolotzskaya (Alliance of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the U.S.S.R.)
Miss S. J. Warner (British Red Cross)
Lady Owen (Australian Red Cross)
On point 10 of the agenda:
“The Board of Governors agrees that the fundamental principles of the institution of the Red Cross and Red Crescent up to the present time have been the following:
“The impartiality, the political, religious and economical independence, the universality of the Red Cross and the equality of the National Red Cross Societies.”
“To these the Board of Governors decides that the following principles shall be added:
…
6. That, if, despite all efforts to the contrary, war should break out, a Red Cross Society must direct all its efforts to lessening the distress caused by the war to improving the condition of the sick, wounded and prisoners of war; to protecting the civilian population, particularly women and children, from the horrors of war and to giving them moral and material help; this work to be carried out either independently or in co-operation with the services of the Armed Forces and with the Government’s Civil Defence Services.
…”
Two small texts are difficult to place in context: they both appear on p 17 of the document – but p 16 is missing from the copy available.
“5 A Red Cross Society should encourage and promote the Junior Red Cross movement amongst boys and girls. The aims of this movement are to teach the importance of service to others , the formation of healthy habits of living, the development of a sense of social responsibility and the strengthening of the great bond of international friendship existing between Junior Red Cross Sections of National Red Cross Societies all over the world.”
“6″ In preparation of nursing and first aid services a National Red Cross Society should train nurses and other personnel to render medical and other forms of supplementary assistance to the public both during war and during peace”
From the SG’s report:
“The Secretary General mentioned that he had been absent from the Secretariat of the League during three months in order to attend the Caracas Conference in Venezuela… The Conference was divided into five Commissions:
- Organisations and Public Relations
- Junior Red Cross
- Health and First Aid
- Nursing
- Disaster Relief …”
“Regarding the Secretariat’s work in the field of Nursing, assistance to sick nurses who were victims of the war had been continued. Nurses from Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland had been received in Switzerland, with the co-operation of the Swiss Red Cross. The Secretariat was desirous of continuing this work; it recently had received a very generous gift from the Canadian Red Cross amounting to 10,000 dollars. A gift of 600 dollars had been received from the International Council of Nurses.
The Secretariat had been able to contribute to the re-organisation of nursing services in Austria. The U.N.R.R.A., mission had completed its work and had asked for the League’s collaboration. The League made an offer to the Austrian Red Cross to continue the work undertaken by the U.N.R.R.A.; it drew up a programme for the work and suggested that it would finance the execution of the plan, with the co-operation of the American Red Cross.
Finally, Miss Hentsch, Director of the Nursing and Social Service Bureau, was present at the meetings of the Managing Committee of the International Florence Nightingale Foundation, which was being re-organised. Further, the Secretary General informed the Committee that the Netherlands Red Cross, at its own expense had been kind enough to send to the Secretariat of the League, an assistant for the Nursing Bureau. He desired to express his sincere appreciation to the Netherlands Red Cross”.
