At the instigation of Dr Vladan Djordjevic, a famous and respected military doctor, on 25th January 1876 according to the old calendar, or 6th February according to the modern one, the Red Cross of Serbia was established. The official ceremony took place in the ball room of Belgrade city hall and the its first name was the “Serbian Society of the Red Cross”. The first President was Bishop Mihajlo Jovanovic and the Board consisted of several famous people within the Serbian state.

          After elections, the governing committee announced to the people of Serbia the duties and aims of the Red Cross. Citizens of Serbia were urged to organise local committees throughout the country. The very first task of the new Red Cross Society was to organise shelter for refugees from Herzegovina where an uprising against Ottoman rule had taken place. In its first year, the Serbian Society of the Red Cross recorded two thousand new members in 35 local committees.

           During the same year, on 24th of March, Serbia signed the first Geneva Conventions. One of the main tasks at that time was to provide help to the military medical service. Duke Milan Obrenovic, the head of State, gave a medal to the Serbian Red Cross called the Great Cross of Takovo. On 11th of June 1876, the International Committee of the Red Cross recognized the Serbian National society.

           At that time the main work of the Red Cross was to collect money, organise hospitals, train volunteer nurses, medical equipment, and assist doctors, as well as to provide additional help to the military medical service. The last two decades of the 19th Century were extremely difficult for Serbia, with much conflict and turbulence in the region, and saw great numbers of refugees and other people in desperate need. In response, the Serbian Red Cross had grown to consist of 105 local committees by the end of 1885. During the war with Bulgaria, the Serbian Red Cross organised evacuation and care for the Bulgarian wounded with 45 medical vehicles, 37 mobile hospitals and a medical train.

          The Serbian Red Cross Society obtained permission from King Milan Obrenovic to allow other European Red Cross Societies to transport medical and other goods for Bulgaria through Serbian territory according to the Geneva Conventions.

           A law passed in 1896 gave the Serbian Red Cross autonomy and protected the Red Cross emblem from misuse. The law also gave the Red Cross benefits to enable it to perform its work more efficiently: discounted railway fares, free telegrams and exemption from customs and other taxes.

          The foundation stone of the Red Cross house was laid in 1879 in Simina Street in Belgrade where it remains to this day. During the First World War the Serbian Red Cross was working both inside the country and abroad. Part of the organisation was in Belgrade and Krusevac, its headquarters was in Nis and part of the organisation was evacuated with the Government to Greece and later to Italy and Switzerland.

          Following the war, the society continued with its work and by 1920 it consisted of 40 local committees and thirty thousand members. At that time many donations came from Serbs outside Serbia. The final session of the board of the Serbian Red Cross took place on 25th December 1921 and all its duties, responsibilities, obligations and rights were transferred to the Red Cross of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Later in the 20th Century the Red Cross changed its name following the changes of the name of the State. During the Second World War the organisation was working under the name of “the Red Cross of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia”. By the end of 1944 there were Red Cross organisations established in all five new republics of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.

           During the 1990s, the period of disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, the Red Cross of Serbia continued with its humanitarian work. Care and relief was organized for hundreds of thousands of refugees and wounded. Humanitarian aid was provided by international organizations such as the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and the Humanitarian Aid Office of the European Commission (ECHO). Also involved were Red Cross societies from around the world, working in partnership with the Red Cross in Serbia. The Red Cross of the former Yugoslavia also broke apart, and the Red Cross of Serbia and the Red Cross of Montenegro continued their work as the Yugoslav Red Cross. In August 1993 the ICRC confirmed the continuity of the Yugoslav Red Cross since its first recognition in 1876.
          Today, the Red Cross of Serbia is part of the Serbia and Montenegro Red Cross Society. During this long, distinguished and difficult history, the Red Cross in Serbia has managed to continue its work with the greatest respect for the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity, and Universality.

          From 1991 to 2003 the Red Cross of Serbia concentrated its resources on the care of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). More than 160 local branches of the Red Cross, two provincial branches and five city branches took care of hundreds of thousands refugees from all around the former Yugoslavia as well as more than two hundred thousand IDPs from the territory of Kosovo. In addition to this caseload, there were also more than one hundred thousand people in Serbia who were not displaced, but had been made particularly vulnerable by social upheaval and economic decline, for whom the Red Cross provided assistance.

          In 2003 between January and July, the Red Cross of Serbia distributed humanitarian aid provided by the WFP for 120.000 refugees every month. After July the number of people supported in this way has decreased to 60.000. In addition to this caseload, 50.000 IDPs have been supported by aid from the ICRC. This food aid will end in September 2003. A Soup Kitchen Programme, which offered daily hot meals to forty six thousand vulnerable people, continued until 31st March 2003. This winter programme was supported by ECHO and coordinated by the German Red Cross. Soup kitchens will continue to provide hot meals during the winter of 2003-4 and 2004-5 with new implementation partners. The Home Care programme provides support and assistance to 8,700 elderly and disabled people living in their own homes. This service is provided by dedicated volunteers in 77 municipalities across