The idea of Henri Dunant

Jean Henry Dunant, a Swiss banker, finds himself at the scene rather by chance. He enlists the help of Italian women from neighboring villages and sets up aid stations for the wounded and sick of both sides. Unfortunately, that help comes too late for many. But Dunant does not lose heart. The horrors that filled him with indignation and pity, he writes down in a book titled "Un Souvenir de Solférino." "Could not aid stations be established in peacetime in all the countries of the world which, in wartime, could care for the injured?" he asks himself in it.
His book had great resonance. It responded to the humanitarian concerns of society in the second half of the 19th century.His three-pronged proposal, in summary, boils down to this:

• Voluntary aid societies equipped and trained to care for wounded on the battlefield and to assist the inadequate medical services of the army or take their place should be established in every country.
• The wounded on the battlefield and medical personnel and their equipment should be considered neutral and should be protected by a badge.
• An international treaty should give these proposals the force of law and ensure the protection of the wounded and the medical personnel who care for them.