OUR HISTORY
The Saint Lucia Red Cross really had no formal beginning. Historically, it appears that in 1942, the Vinchy government in Martinique who at the time was an ally of the Nazis were harbouring submarines for refueling purposes. As a result, there was widespread torpedoing of ships in the area. Most of the survivors often reached the shores of St Lucia. Also, many French citizens who escaped that regime to join the French resistance in England landed in St Lucia.
Conscious of the humanitarian principles, some people got together to offer care to relieve the suffering of the sick and wounded of these situations.
However, it was not until the 1948 fire of Castries that there was any formalized organization of the Society of St Lucia. In 1949 we were founded as a branch of the British Red Cross.
On September 18th, 1981, the Swiss government received from the government of St Lucia, the instruments containing its declaration of succession to the Four Geneva Conventions of August 12th, 1949. St Lucia thus became the 150th state to become a party to the Geneva Conventions.
We became an independent National Society on March 16th, 1982, as a result of the Saint Lucia Red Cross Act (SLRC).
On 16th March, 1983, the Saint Lucia Red Cross Society Act was passed by the Government of St Lucia. On 1st October, 1986, it was recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and on October 18th, of that same year it was admitted into the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
As a national society, the Saint Lucia Red Cross must carry out its functions on its own.