Finnish Red Cross

Finnish Red Cross – FRC
Suomen Punainen Risti – SPR
Finlands Röda Kors – FRK

Type	International nongovernmental organization
Industry	Well-being
Founded	May 7, 1877
Headquarters	Helsinki, Finland
Key people	Mr Pertti Torstila, Ms Kristiina Kumpula
Products	Humanitarian aid
Number of employees	1,168 (2006), 95,000 members & 45,000 active volunteers
Website	www.redcross.fi

The Finnish Red Cross (FRC, Finnish: Suomen Punainen Risti, Swedish: Finlands Röda Kors) is a part of International Federation of Red Cross, which is one of the biggest and well-known international organisation in the world and on the field of humanitarian aid. FRC has over 90,000 members and around 45,000 active volunteers in Finland. FRC is divided to 12 districts and 550 local branches around the country. The current General Secretary is Ms. Kristiina Kumpula. By the end of year 2006, the FRC employed 1,168 people, of which 136 were located in the Helsinki headquarters.

The Finnish Red Cross is based on volunteering and has branches in almost every municipality in Finland. The organisational structure has three layers: local branches, districts, and the national headquarters. Volunteers are important decision-makers on every level. On the local level, the activity of the branches is determined in large part on how dedicated their members are.

Finnish Red Cross was founded on May 7, 1877 to care for the wounded and sick soldiers of the Finnish Guard in the Russo–Turkish War. The FRC was recognized by the ICRC in 1920 and became a member of IFRC in 1922, when Finland ratified the Geneva Conventions.