Henry Dunant and IDHR

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhilst doing my work last week in Geneva I was told that I had to include footage from the Film "Henry Dunant - Du Rouge sur la croix". I didn't get to watch the film until today but I enjoyed it. it's an interesting film for anyone who has been brought up in Geneva to watch.

There are two cities in the World that have the United Nations, New York in the US and Geneva in Switzerland. Both these locations are important but Geneva is seen by some as the capital of Human rights.

Henry Dunant is an important figure in the history of International Human Rights (DIH) because when in Solferino after seeing the ravages of war he wanted to help anyone affected by conflict, no matter the nationality, religion or ethnic background. In effect for him they were "brothers in arms" to quote the film.

The film itself is well shot, has a good rythm and a good pacing. It tells the story without getting bogged down in details and serves as a taster for those who would like to do more research on the subject. The acting is good and it's amusing to see the old town of Geneva in a film, especially since those are the streets around which I have spent many hours on a number of weekend evenings.

I love the international aspect of Geneva. I've done work for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Labour Organisation, I've been accredited to the United Nations on three seperate occasions, each one for over a month and I've done work for the World Health Organisation.

I have been through Two International Labour Conferences, the first ever General Staff meeting of UNAIDS and on the lighter side I've been to two Student League of Nations as a precursor.

This is part of the reason for which I see Globalisation not as a form of corportage agrandisement but rather as a coming together of the world's population, living according to specic rules and guidelines which means that we are compassionate about ethnic diversity and co-habitation.

Where are you from is not to find out what village or town you're from but what country. This is because we follow world news and international politics. We are aware of every continent and aspects of many cultures. That's why we watch BBC World when we have the chance and read the international newspapers.

If you have the opportunity of seeing Henry Dunant then do so, it's worth it.