ROSEAU, DOMINICA – As the global community prepares to mark 2026 World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, Reginald Winston, President of the Dominica Red Cross Society, has delivered a stirring call for collective solidarity rooted in the 2026 global theme “United in Humanity”, addressing rising division and attacks on humanitarian volunteers worldwide.\n\nIn his official statement marking the annual observance, Winston drew attention to a growing global crisis: the marginalization and violent targeting of people across divides, including the volunteer humanitarian workers who dedicate their time to serving public good. These harmful acts, he emphasized, deepen rifts within already fractured communities and put life-saving humanitarian work at greater risk for everyone involved.\n\nWinston stressed that the 2026 theme is far more than a symbolic slogan—it is a core conviction shaped by the founding fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. He offered a poignant reframing of the movement’s work: volunteers are not just detached service providers, but neighbors, friends, and family members to the communities they serve. Meanwhile, the people who rely on Red Cross support are not statistics or faceless victims, they are fellow human beings deserving of dignity. By centering shared humanity, Winston explained, the movement closes the artificial gap between those who give aid and those who need it, erasing the unhelpful divide of “us” and “them”.\n\nTo ground this vision in local action, Winston pointed to the Dominica Red Cross’s response to recent severe flooding across the island. Throughout the emergency response, the organization’s local volunteers put shared humanity into practice, embodying the close proximity to communities that has long been a defining strength of the Red Cross movement.\n\nWinston shared the firsthand testimony of a flood beneficiary from Dominica’s Kalinago territory, whose words capture the impact of the organization’s work. The woman recounted moments of overwhelming despair after the disaster, when she felt entirely invisible to the outside world. She and her family extended profound gratitude to the Dominica Red Cross, highlighting one volunteer in particular who extended extraordinary kindness: that volunteer recognized her humanity at a time she felt forgotten, bringing a comfort to her spirit that cannot be put into words.\n\n“We, the less privileged, or poor, or displaced, who are unable to help ourselves, who sit quietly and wait, are still there,” she said. Closing her message, she expressed hope that the Red Cross will remain a steadfast beacon of hope for every community across Dominica, particularly for those living in the island’s hardest-to-reach areas.\n\nReflecting on her testimony, Winston said her words say more than any organizational leader could. He closed by urging all Dominica Red Cross volunteers to continue demonstrating courage and radical humanity in their work, centering care for individual people and upholding the core principles of the movement through action. He emphasized that all volunteers share the profound privilege of serving their fellow human beings.\n\nFinally, Winston extended wishes of a happy World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day to all volunteers, supporters, and partners across the globe.
STATEMENT: The president of the Dominica Red Cross Society on World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day 2026
