Women of the Red Cross and Red Crescent“2.
Cessation of hostilities for the duration of armistice
negotiations in Korea
The Executive Committee,
…
whereas the defence of the civilian population, especially women, children and old, persons, against the horrors of war is the duty of the Red Cross,
…”
Among those present were
Among the observers:
Participants included
“Item 7: Nursing
Sir John Newman- Morris (Australian Red Cross) asked, with reference to Item 7 a.), whether the League actually trained professional nurses and nurse’s-aids.
Mr de Rougé (Secretary General) explained that the League Secretariat acted as an intermediary between the national Societies which granted study visits to certain nurses who wished to go to another country to improve their knowledge. The League had been carrying on this activity for many years.
The Chairman asked Sir John Newman Morris whether he was satisfied with this explanation.
Sir John Newman Morris (Australian Red Cross) said that the explanation was satisfactory but that the wording of Item 7 a) was not.
It was decided to draft this item more clearly”.
“Resolution No IV
Nursing
The Executive Committee noted the following resolutions adopted by the Nursing Advisory Committee:
1
The Nursing Advisory Committee,
Wishes to put on record its pride and admiration of the devoted and selfless service rendered by the Nursing staff of the League of Red Cross Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross to the victims of the Palestinian conflict. This action, carried out most courageously and in the finest Red Cross spirit, illustrates clearly the effectiveness of international nursing teams when these are composed of well qualified and disciplined staff.
2
The Nursing Advisory Committee,
Whereas it is recognised that. since 1945 immense service has been rendered by the League of Red Cross Societies through its Fund for the Assistance of Sick Nurses whose health has suffered as a result of war,
Considers that such assistance shall now become the responsibility of national Societies,
Recommends that the balance of monies still available be used by the League Secretariat for special cases, such as Displaced Nurses, which national Societies may submit to the League.
3
The Nursing Advisory Committee,
Whereas there is general agreement that in the spirit of the Founder of the Red Cross the word “volunteer” means “one who enters into, or offers himself for any service of his own free will”, the word is applied in some countries to designate unpaid workers,
Recommends that in the future national Societies, when using the word “voluntary” indicate their interpretation of it,
Again draws the attention to the recommendation made by the Advisory Conference of Delegates of National Red Cross Societies in 1945, expressing the wish that the principle of unpaid service may continue to have a preponderant place in the Red Cross and that where voluntary aids are authorised to receive pay, a suitable difference shall be made between the pay to professional personnel and the pay to auxiliary personnel,
Whereas it is recognised that the national Societies may use their own designation for their nursing personnel,
Recommends that the League Secretariat shall cooperate with other international organisations in their attempt to find a common designation for the various categories of the said nursing personnel,
Whereas it recognises that unification of training for Red Cross nursing personnel is not practicable,
Wishes nevertheless to draw particular attention to Resolution No LII passed by the XVth International Red Cross Conference waking various recommendations for the instruction of nursing personnel in time of peace and war,
Recommends further that all Red Cross nursing personnel should receive instruction not only in first aid and elementary nursing, but also in Red Cross history and the organisation of the national Society, and of the International Red Cross, including national legislation and international agreements in time of war.
4
The Nursing Advisory Committee,
Recommends that the Red Cross nursing activities take place in each Society under the leadership of a nurse or of a nursing committee composed in majority of nurses.
5
The Nursing Advisory Committee,
Recommends that when a national Society extends relief to a sister Society, everything possible should be done to ensure that the equipment supplied is suitable for use in the country of destination and that adequate instruction be sent with it,
Recommends that an attempt be made to standardise certain essential elements of the said equipment”.
“14. Meeting of the Grand Council of the Florence Nightingale International Foundation at Stockholm.
The Executive Committee took note of Miss Hentsch’ s Report on this item”
15. League Stamp
The Executive Committee took note of Miss Gepp’s Report on this item”
At the request of Lady Owen (Australian Red Cross), a drafting committee was appointed with two woman members:
Australian Red Cross (Lady Owen)
Brazilian Red Cross (Mr. Sloper)
British Red Cross (Miss Warner)
French Rod Cross (Mr. de Truchis de Varennes)
A glimpse is offered of the structure of the Secretariat:
“11. Functioning and Activities of the Secretariat of the League.
The Directors of Sections;
(a) Organisation and Development (Mr. H.-T. Dunning)
(b) Relief (Mr. E. Winsall)
(c) Nursing (Miss Y. Hentsch)
(d) Junior Red Cross (Mr. C. A. Schusselé, Assistant-Director)
(e) Hygiene (Dr. Z.S. Hantchef, Director ad Interim)
(f) Publications and Information (Mr. F.G. Sigerist)
each submitted a report on the principal activities of his service”
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:
“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”.
Who attended the meeting is not noted in the document available.
“VII
The Executive Committee notes with satisfaction that the Florence Nightingale International Foundation will be inaugurated in London in July 1934, and that the League will be represented on the Governing Body of the Foundation by Dr. A. Masarykova, President of the Czechoslovak Red Cross, the Marchesa di Targiani Giunti of the Italian Red Cross, Mlle Odier of the International Red Cross Committee, Mr. Ernest J. Swift , Secretary General of the League, and Mrs. Carter, Chief of the Nursing Division. The Secretary General is authorized to assure the Foundation that cordial support will be given by the League for the purposes for which it stands. The Secretary General is also authorized to take such steps as may appear advisable, when the Foundation has been duly constituted, to hand over to it the assets hither-to held by the League in connexion with the International Nursing Courses in London. The Executive Committee expresses its deep gratitude to the Council of Bedford College, to the House Committee of Manchester Square, to the Council of the College of Nursing, and to the British Red Cross Society, for the very helpful co-operation given to the League during the thirteen years of its responsibility for the International Nursing Courses in London”.
None of the formal participants was a woman.
Following the resolutions of the meeting, there is a list of visitors received during the year, most of whom were women:
“Visitors Red Cross:
American Junior Red Cross: Miss Anna Milo Upjohn.
Belgian Red Cross: M. Dronsart, Director-General.
Czechoslovak Red Cross: Miss Dittlerova.
French Red Cross: Mile Pierrard, Secretary-general, Junior Red Cross, Mlle de Nexon, Instructor, Red Cross Dispensary, Limoges.
Polish Red Cross: Miss Korycinska.
International Red Cross Committee: Mlle Odier”.
Among the resolutions may be found:
“XVI
The Executive Committee, believing that the facilities given to national Societies for the post-graduate training of nurses in London are of the highest value, and recognizing that after 1932 no provision for the expenses of these nursing courses can be made within the budget of the League,
authorizes the Secretary General to remind national Societies forthwith of the decision of the Board of Governors and to explain to them that unless the necessary funds are secured before the end of 1931 the League will be obliged to close these courses in July 1932”.
In a separate note, one may read:
“Gift for 15 Manchester Square
The International Nurses’ House has received from the Indian Red Cross Society the gift of an old embroidered picture which it is proposed to frame and use for the decoration of the Indian Room”
Apparently, no women were formally present in the meetings as such.
“Mrs. W.K. Draper, Chairman of the New York Chapter of the American Red Cross, who was passing through Paris and had been good enough to honour the Committee with her attendance at this meeting”.
During a discussion on the subject of League Secretariat involvement in the organization of Red Cross committees in British Colonies, it was proposed that Mrs. Carter, a member of the Secretariat and of British nationality might be a possible representative, along with two gentlemen, at the forthcoming British Empire Red Cross Conference to be held in London.
“The CHAIRMAN introduced Point f): Nursing Division, and called-upon Sir Edward Stewart.
Sir Edward STEWART: The usual quarterly reports of the activities of the Nursing Division have been circulated to all members of the Executive Committee. In addition to this, a memorandum has been circulated to the members, in which it is stated that the recommendations passed at the meeting of the Advisors on Nursing held last October have been circulated to the national Red Cross Societies. Copies of the replies have been attached to the memorandum for the information of the members of the Executive Committee.
On studying this carefully, it will be seen that in general the recommendations have been approved by the national Red Cross Societies and also by the International Red Cross Committee, with the exception of Recommendation IV to which the Hungarian Red Cross has raised an objection. This recommendation lays down the policy to be adopted by the League when called upon to advise with regard to the organization of Schools of Nursing in countries where the number is insufficient, and in addition to recommending Red Cross Societies to establish Schools of Nursing of the highest type, it recommends that “the League encourage Red Cross Societies to contribute still further to the development of nursing by stimulating their Governments and private agencies to undertake the establishment of schools and by collaborating sympathetically with them”
The Hungarian Red Cross (full text of the letter has been circulated to the members of the Executive Committee) is averse to the principle of encouraging the Government to undertake the establishment of training schools for nurses but wishes the training of nurses to be concentrated in the hands of the Red Cross, the latter to receive subvention from the Government for this purpose.
It is proposed that this question be placed on the agenda of the XIVth International Red Cross Conference and that the Hungarian Red Cross be asked to present a report on it for discussion by the Nursing Commission.
Certain other suggestions and minor comments have been made by other Red Cross Societies but these do not in any way alter the principle laid down in the recommendations.
The recommendation made by the Advisors on Nursing that the three Recommendations No. V, No. VII and No. VIII be submitted to the XIVth International Red Cross Conference was approved by the Executive Committee at its last meeting. As these deal with three important and distinct questions, it is proposed. that they appear on the agenda of the XIVth International Red Cross Conference under the following headings:
Item No.5 (k) on the agenda of the Executive Committee refers to the policy to be adopted by the League when collaborating with Red Cross Societies in the development of their schools of nursing, especially with reference to the sending of foreign teaching personnel for this purpose. This question was very fully discussed by the advisors on Nursing at their meeting in October 1929 and Recommendation No. IV was passed; paragraph 6 referring especially to the question reads as follows:
“The Advisory Committee approves, as being of fundamental importance, the League’s policy of encouraging these countries to send educated women to foreign schools for full training, or for post-graduate work for the purpose of preparing themselves to build up schools of nursing and to develop nursing activities in their own countries. The Advisory Committee further believes that simultaneously with this process of educating women for leadership in nursing, these countries may find it helpful to start their schools through the assistance of nurse leaders borrowed temporarily from other countries. It is believed, however, that better results will be obtained if these nurses are of the same ethical group as those of the country which seeks their assistance”.
It is proposed that the League; adopt the policy laid down in this recommendation, it being left to its discretion to make use of foreign personnel if it is considered to be in the interest of the country in question.
Sir Edward STEWART summarized the three points which he wished to embody in his proposal:
The CHAIRMAN asked whether there were any further questions.
The SECRETARY GENERAL thought that in the light of the proposals made by Sir Edward Stewart the national Red Cross Societies would have an opportunity at Brussels of discussing questions relating to nursing considered in conjunction with the activities of the Red Cross. It was therefore appropriate that the League should lay before the International Conference questions of a nature to interest all the national Societies.
As regards the second proposal, the Secretary General agreed that it fully represented the intention of the Secretariat. The question raised by the Hungarian Red Cross could not in fact be settled in the same way for every country. In some countries, the Red Cross had never intervened in the education of nurses but, once the latter had obtained their diploma, had confined itself to registering them as potential Red Cross workers. This system had been applied by the American and British Red Cross Societies and, in a certain measure, in other countries also. There were, however, a certain number of cases in which the credit for having introduced a system of nursing education was, from the very outset, due to the Red Cross. In Japan, for example, the Red Cross was initiator of the nursing profession. The same applied in some of the Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Greece, where the Red Cross had organized courses at which the first trained nurses in these countries had received their tuition.
The proposal made by the Hungarian Red Cross was not therefore a measure that should be generalized but one that should be taken into consideration in each country individually. It would, in consequence be well if the XIVth Conference, at which the national Red Cross Societies will be represented, were given an opportunity of outlining Red Cross policy in this respect.
The third proposal put forward by Sir Edward Stewart was in conformity with the recommendation made by the Advisors who examined this question in October last, and the procedure to be followed should, no doubt be dictated by that recommendation”.
“b) Pan-American Bureau.
M. Conill was invited to speak.
M. CONILL wished to present a few observations regarding the collaboration of the League Secretariat in the development of the Red Cross in Latin America. This collaboration with the Societies of the South American States was one of the most glorious phases in the history of the League. Before the foundation of the League, the countries of Latin America having a Red Cross Society could be counted on the fingers, whereas to-day practically everyone of these countries had formed a national Society. Honduras, Nicaragua and San Domingo alone had not yet become members of the League. This was an admirable achievement of the Pan-American Bureau. With a view to furthering the development of the Red Cross in Latin America, M. Conill suggested that the Secretariat assist in the establishment and development of national Societies and that it collaborate with Societies already in existence in order to extend their activities under the three following heads: training of nurses, Junior Red Cross and health propaganda.
As regards the question of the training of nurses, the Latin American countries had not yet established any schools of nursing and could not therefore avail themselves of the Bedford College courses; their students held no diploma and were consequently ineligible for the advanced courses. The Executive Committee would do well to instruct the Secretariat to continue its collaboration with a view to the establishment of schools of nursing in Latin America; this, M. Conill added, was an important point.
Health propaganda could be developed if the Executive Committee authorized the preparation and printing of documents in Spanish and Portuguese. He pointed out that it was a unique circumstance that there should be twenty nations speaking the same language, and which in consequence could receive documents in Spanish alone. The “Information Bulletin” should be continued and published in Portuguese and Spanish.
Furthermore, in view of the vast expanse of some of the Latin American States, where the local Committees were almost completely isolated from their Central Committee and were practically autonomous, in order to ensure closer collaboration it might be advisable to consider the periodical convocation of national Conferences. M. Conill proposed that the Executive Committee authorize a representative of the Pan- American Bureau to visit Latin America, should such a visit be considered necessary from the point of view of increasing the number of, and of co-operating in the organization of these Conferences.
M. Conill summed up his three proposals and asked whether they were approved.
The CHAIRMAN asked whether there were any further observations.
The SECRETARY GENERAL thanked M. Conill for his suggestions and stressed the importance which the Secretariat had always attached to the development of the Red Cross in Latin America. He was at the disposal of the national Societies to examine with them any activity they might wish to undertake. If the proposals made by M. Conill met with the approval of The Executive Committee, the Secretariat would, in so far as its budget permitted, make a study of the steps to be taken with a view to furthering the development of Latin American Red Cross Societies.
M. CONILL asked whether he should make a formal proposal or whether it would suffice to place the Committee’s approval on record.
The CHAIRMAN asked M. Conill to summarize his proposal.
M. CONILL proposed the following resolution:
The Committee approves the work already undertaken in Latin America and recommends that this work be continued, in so far as the budget of the League would permit, more particularly in connexion with the training of nurses, the Juior Red Cross and health propaganda”
The CHAIRMAN was sure that all the members of the Committee were in agreement as to the policy to be followed in Latin America and, if there were no objections, M. Conill’s proposal would be regarded as adopted”.
“XIVth INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE:
The International Red Cross Committee and the League of Red Cross Societies have agreed to propose that the following questions be placed on the agenda of the XIVth International ed Cross Conference:
…
XXIV. Action taken in respect of Resolution XIII of the Xlllth International Red Cross Conference concerning the nursing activities of the Red Cross:
a) enrolment of trained nurses; training and enrolment of voluntary aids (Recommendation VI);
b) professional training of nurses (Recommendation VII):
i) Fundamental principles to be observed in the establishment of schools of nursing (Recommendation VII);
ii) Red Cross role in the training of nurses (Hungarian Red Cross).
c) training of auxiliary public health nurses
… ”.
“c) Conditions to be laid down in order that the League may obtain the active collaboration of the counsellors nominated by the different national Societies”.
The SECRETARY GENERAL stated that the national Societies had already nominated 150 technical experts on different questions. Some of the Societies had, however, informed the League that they were unable to nominate authorities in advance for the purpose of advising the Secretariat on different subjects. The Secretariat would therefore simply ask the national Red Cross Societies to find the qualified experts in each case and to forward the necessary information. The experts already appointed included:
24 experts for question relating to Nursing
87 “ “ “ “ “ Health
11 “ “ “ “ “ Infant Welfare
17 “ “ “ “ “ Junior Red Cross
9 “ “ “ “ “ Relief
16 “ “ “ “ “ General Organization
M, CONILL wished to know what procedure had hitherto been adopted when the Secretariat desired to consult the experts. The SECRETARY GENERAL replied that, at its last meeting, he asked the Executive Committee for authority to convene a special meeting for the purpose of studying nursing questions and, as a result of this authority, a special meeting of Advisors on Nursing was held in October, when the programme to be discussed at the Brussels Conference was established.