Donate Blood, Save Lives
Volunteering, as a fundamental basis of our institution, works in a disciplined, loyal, supportive, and selfless manner, focusing its actions on fulfilling the humanitarian mission of the Colombian Red Cross.
Our purpose is to support the institutional programs developed by different volunteer groups (Grey Ladies, Youth, and First Aid), focused on strengthening, promoting well-being, providing support, ensuring safety, and offering ongoing training to our volunteers so they can carry out their humanitarian work in a relevant, sufficient, and competent manner.
The voluntary group Las Damas Grises is made up of people over the age of 18, with a defined occupation, a great deal of sensitivity, charisma, responsibility, and ethics, with a vocation for service and leadership skills.
The Damas Grises (Grey Ladies) have been part of the Colombian Red Cross Volunteer Corps since its establishment in 1962. They support all of the institution’s humanitarian work by responding to the needs of the country’s most vulnerable communities.
They focus their work especially on community development processes aimed at improving the quality of life and capacities of the most vulnerable communities, as well as supporting and caring for older adults.
The First Aid Group is a national volunteer group that forms part of the Colombian Red Cross National Society. It was established by Law 49 of 1948 and regulated by Decree No. 4231, with the aim of providing assistance in emergencies.
Made up of adult men and women committed to the institutional philosophy and a strong sense of solidarity, who carry out operational actions in the country in health care, search and rescue in emergencies and disasters. It supports the dissemination of institutional doctrine, international humanitarian law, and peaceful conflict transformation. It has Road Safety and Search and Rescue (SAR) programs, with its K-SAR, M-SAR, W-SAR specialties, and the U-SAR project.
During these 70 years of service, Colombian Red Cross first responders have been present at various national and international disasters, such as: the Avianca building fire in 1975, the takeover of the Dominican Republic Embassy in 1980, the tsunami in Tumaco in 1979, the Popayán earthquake in 1983, the siege of the Palace of Justice and the Armero mudslide in 1985, among others.
The Youth Group of the Colombian Red Cross is a space for young people, a meeting point for children, adolescents, and young adults around humanitarian action and the opportunity to play a role as a young volunteer, leader, or receive assistance from the Red Cross as a member of the community, making the group the most prominent seedbed for volunteering.
The participation of young people in the Colombian Red Cross takes place through the following lines:
Volunteering also changes your life
The Colombian Red Cross has the National Volunteer Fund, a solidarity and welfare fund for volunteers, whose resources are used to finance activities for their development and strengthening in the institution’s humanitarian work.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with a presence in more than 190 countries and 97 million volunteers, partners, and staff members.
In international humanitarian law (IHL), human rights (HR), leadership, project management, first aid, disaster management, livelihoods, community development, teaching techniques, among other topics relevant to the country’s needs.
and local, national, or international exchanges with other National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
such as National Volunteer Meetings, where volunteers from across the country come together to participate in activities that allow them to contribute to institutional change, attend academic events, network with volunteers from other branches, and receive recognition for their volunteer work.
in institutional decision-making and hold positions of responsibility within the institution.