GCI celebrates 21st birthday, recognizes 20th anniversaries of 7 national chapters

17 April 2014 | Geneva, Switzerland: Green Cross national organizations in seven countries are this year marking 20 years of action to promote sustainability and security, a milestone being hailed by Green Cross International, which tomorrow also celebrates its 21st anniversary.

The Green Cross national organizations in Switzerland, Russia, the United States, Japan, Sweden, Ivory Coast and the Netherlands were founded in 1994 and, since then, have promoted sustainability, security and environmental protection through scores of on-the-ground projects and advocacy campaigns.

“The work of our national organizations is what brings the Green Cross mission to life,” said Mikhail Gorbachev, who founded Green Cross International (GCI) in 1993. “The grassroots efforts of Green Cross’s national chapters to create more sustainable and secure communities has touched hundreds of thousands of people.”

GCI is an independent non-profit and nongovernmental organization working globally to address the inter-connected global challenges of security, poverty eradication and environmental degradation through advocacy and local projects. GCI is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, has national offices in more than 30 countries in the world and conducts on-the-ground projects around the world.

To gain practical traction, GCI has supported the establishment of national organizations:

• Green Cross Ivory Coast is deeply involved in the Water for Life and Peace programme, through providing safe-drinking water and sanitation systems in rural areas, and promoting the sharing of cross-border water sources between neighbouring countries;
• Green Cross Sweden is actively involved in Kenya trying to bring peace and security through environmental restoration and community engagement, and, together with Green Cross Netherlands, has long been active in the development and promotion of the Earth Charter Initiative”;
• Green Cross Russia, GCI’s American national organization Global Green USA, and Green Cross Switzerland have worked closely to support efforts to destroy Cold War-era chemical weapons stockpiles in Russia and the United States;
• Green Cross Russia undertakes Smart Energy projects, like the development of an environmentally clean and economically efficient biogas plant in Moscow;
• Green Cross Japan has contributed to the Value Change Programme, by developing the Environmental Diary project to which more than 1 million children have participated and that has now been implemented in Australia, Sri Lanka and South Korea;
• Green Cross Switzerland is supporting sustainability and environmental protection projects in numerous countries, as well as providing social and medical care to tens of thousands of people suffering from the consequences of environmental disasters.

“As the Green Cross network enters its third decade of action for a sustainable future, we all must recognize that only through a monumental shift in values and behaviour towards the environment and our way of life will humanity be able to ensure its long-term viability and growth,” according to GCI President Alexander Likhotal. “I am proud of the work of Green Cross’s national organizations to meet these challenges.”

Photo opportunity: In Geneva, Switzerland, Green Cross flags will be flown from the landmark Pont du Mont Blanc from 14-21 April.

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