Wikipedia

Iranian Red Crescent Society

TheIranian Red Crescent Society(IRCS), officially theRed Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran(Persian:جمعیت هلال احمر جمهوری اسلامی ایران,romanized:Jamʿiyyat-e Helâl-e Ahmar-e Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is anon-governmentalhumanitarian organizationinIran.[1]Founded as theRed Lion and Sun Societyin 1922,[4]it became affiliated with theInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies(IFRC) in 1924[6]and changed its name and emblem in 1980, informing the international community ofHilal Ahmaradoption[7]while assuming the right to adopt the former emblem in future.[1]

Iranian Red Crescent Society
AbbreviationIRCS
Formation1922;102 years ago(1922)
FounderAmir Amir-Aʿlam[1]
TypeNGO
Legal statusLegislated by theIranian Parliamenton 28 April 1988[1]
PurposeHumanitarian aid
HeadquartersBuilding of Peace, 136Pahlavi St.,Tehran
Region served
Iran
Services
  • Relief operations
  • Search and rescue
  • Education
  • Research
Fields
  • Pharmaceutical industry
  • Textile manufacturing
  • Healthcare
Secretary General
Dr. Yaghob Soleymani
President
Pir-Hossein Kolivand[2]
Budget(2016–17)
$231.36 million[3]
Staff(2005)
7,000 paid employees[4]
Volunteers(2017)
2,000,000[5]
Websiteen.rcs.ir
Formerly called
Red Lion and Sun Society

The society is one of the world's largest national societies within IFRC[4]and is noted for its special expertise in responding toearthquakes.[8]

Since inception, the IRCS has participated in a variety of public activities. Its core activity is to perform relief and rescue operations to help victims and the injured in natural disasters and accidents. It also engages a in wide range of humanitarian services in health and rehabilitation, training and research.[4]The society had a therapeutic approach and was regarded a majorhealthcareinstitution with thousands of hospital beds across the country until 1979, when all of its medical facilities were transferred to theMinistry of Health.[1]

IRCS is an example of strong national societies that play an important role domestically[8]and is held in high esteem by the Iranian general public.[4]

Organization

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Emblem formerly used for theRed Lion and Sun Society

IRCS has 30 governorate headquarters, one in eachprovince of Iran,and 330 branches throughout the country, as of 2005.[4]Based on the latest structure, it is made up of four departments: relief and rescue (emdād wa najāt), medical provisions (tadārokāt-e pezeški), volunteers (dāvṭalabān), and youth (javānān).[1]The latter is largely made up of high school and university student members.[4]

According to the law enacted by theIranian Parliament,the society is run by a chairman appointed by thePresident of Iran.This procedure is in contrast with the elective nature of a society chairman as suggested by the IFRC.[1]The secretary general is responsible for the administrative and executive affairs.[1]

Other subordinates

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IRCS owns and runs Helal Iran Textile Industries Co., a producer of blankets and tents.[9]SOHA, a manufacturer of disposable medical devices is also owned by the society,[10]as well asShahrvand,a daily newspaper.[11]TheIranian Red Crescent Medical Journal,an English language peer-reviewed journal on clinical and scientific medicine, is another publication of IRCS.[12]

Presidents

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Heads of the society have been:[1]

References

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  1. ^abcdefghiGhassemlou, Farid (21 January 2016)."JAMʿIYAT-E HELĀL-E AḤMAR-E IRĀN".Encyclopædia Iranica(Online ed.). New York City: Bibliotheca Persica Press.
  2. ^"UN Humanitarian head praised Iran for rescue attempts after quake",Islamic Republic News Agency,23 November 2017, 82740384,retrieved24 November2017
  3. ^"IRCS Slams Meager Budget Increase",Financial Tribune,19 December 2016, 82632949,retrieved24 November2017,The government has increased IRCS budget for renovation and procurement of relief supplies by 1,000 billion rials ($25.64 million at market exchange rate) to 5,000 billion rials ($128.2 million). IRCS's budget for relief supplies saw a steep cut of 3,000 billion rials ($76.92 million) last year to stand at 7,000 billion rials ($179.48 million). It was again reduced to 4,000 billion rials ($102.56 million) in the current Iranian year's budget, the Persian daily Shahrvand reported.
  4. ^abcdefgToni Pfanner; Andreas Wigger; Mostafa Mohaghegh (June 2005),"Interview with Ahmad Ali Noorbala",International Review of the Red Cross,87(858), International Committee of the Red Cross: 241–253 – via Cambridge University Press
  5. ^"Red Crescent volunteer organization with 2mn members",Islamic Republic News Agency,15 August 2017, 82632949,retrieved24 November2017
  6. ^"IRCS among top five int'l relief bodies",Iran daily,4 January 2015, 58883,retrieved24 November2017
  7. ^H. Beer; J. Moreillon (December 1980),"Adoption of the red crescent by the Islamic Republic of Iran",International Review of the Red Cross,20(219), International Committee of the Red Cross: 316–317,doi:10.1017/S002086040006736X– via Cambridge University Press
  8. ^abJonathan Benthall(subscription required)(1997). "The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Islamic Societies, with Special Reference to Jordan".British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.24(2). British Society for Middle Eastern Studies: 157–177.doi:10.1080/13530199708705644.JSTOR195770.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^"ICRC hails Iran Textile Industries' contributions",Mehr News Agency,14 January 2015, 2558936,retrieved24 November2017
  10. ^"ICRC, IRCS For Stronger Ties"(PDF),Iran daily,no. 4267, p. 3, 28 June 2012, 2558936,retrieved24 November2017
  11. ^Fairoza Ramadan Zada (27 January 2017),"Harrowing Images Shock Iranand Spark Widespread Outrage"(PDF),The Majalla,no. 1630, p. 4, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 December 2017,retrieved24 November2017
  12. ^"About the Journal".Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal.doi:10.32592/ircmj.Crossmark.ISSN2074-1804.Retrieved1 January2021.
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