The 69^th International Day of the Red Cross and Red Crescent was celebrated in Yaounde, on May 8, 2016.

The Cameroon Red Cross on Sunday, May 8, 2016, celebrated the 69^th International Day of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. With theme, “Everywhere, for everyone,” this year’s celebration lasted from May 4-8, 2016, seeing the carrying out of a number of activities.

They included public lectures, environmental sanitation campaigns, awareness-raising, competitions, visits to orphanages and marches. Prior to the celebration in Yaounde on Sunday, volunteers marched through the streets of the capital. Speaking in Yaounde on the occasion of the celebration, Mrs. Akame Mfoumou, who represented the President, William Eteki Mboumoua, said the Cameroon Red Cross was cognizant of the support of the First Lady, Mrs. Chantal Biya and the Circle of the Friends of Cameroon, CERAC, to the success of its activities.

She recalled that the Cameroon Red Cross is linked to CERAC by a partnership. “Like a careful mother, CERAC has been assisting the Cameroon Red Cross all the way to achieve its objective of bringing succour to vulnerable people without discrimination,” Mrs. Akame Mfoumou noted. She also lauded the subventions paid by the State to enable the movement operate, adding that the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, ICRC, has been immeasurable.

Becoming a branch of the French Red Cross in 1959, the Cameroon Red Cross was formally created on April 30, 1963. It was recognized as a public utility on January 9, 1963. Admitted the same year as member of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Cameroon Red Cross on May 16, 2012, signed a partnership deal with government.

Today, it boasts a network of over 20,000 volunteers and 250 clubs in secondary schools and universities. With presence in every subdivision in the country, the Cameroon Red Cross seeks to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable people, save those affected by natural catastrophes and respond to health emergencies.