White Helmets

Official logo of the White Helmets.

See also: Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team

The White Helmets Commission (Spanish: Comisión Cascos Blancos) is a humanitarian aid and peacekeeping agency based on an initiative launched by Argentina in 1993.^[1]

History

The organization was presented to the international community at the United Nations General Assembly in 1994^[2]. The UN then adopted the initiative into its organizational framework. The Organization of American States did likewise in 1998.^[3]

The White Helmets participate in scenarios of natural or man-made disasters and socio-economic crises, employing volunteer work and managing international financial support. It depends on the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Relations. Its central seat is located in Buenos Aires. Within the UN, the White Helmets Commission works closely with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).

Missions

The organization has taken part in the following missions:

• Anti-Chagas campaign in Argentina.
• Young volunteer training courses.
• Containing forest fires in Brazil (1998).
• Disaster management in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch (1999).
• Humanitarian aid in southern Peru after the series of earthquakes in June–July 2001.
• Reconstruction works in India after the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat.
• Hazard management program in the Paz River valley in El Salvador and Guatemala (2003).
• Humanitarian aid in Bam, Iran, after the December 2003 earthquake.
• Emergency and flood control in Durazno, Uruguay.
• Humanitarian aid to Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Peru and Bolivia after a number of different natural disasters in 2004.
• Official report 2003-2008 at [1]
• Provided emergency relief and humanitarian assistance to the victims of Huricaine Katrina in the USA.
• Emergency relief on 2010 Haiti earthquake ^[4]
• Emergency relief to the victims of Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.^{[citation needed]}
• Tunisia border after Libyan crisis per the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees request ^[5]

References

1. ^ http://www.cascosblancos.gov.ar/ The White Helmets Initiative, which is an initiative funded by the Government of Argentina, however, does have a relatively large concentration of International (Argentinian) volunteers, who have served in a number of sub-sectors under the UNDP/ PAPP umbrella.
2. ^ http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/ga-res96/Res-1403.htm official declaration of the UN
3. ^ http://devserver.paho.org/usa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=148 White Helmets of Argentina, PAHO agree to strengthen regional disaster response capacity
4. ^ Arrived to Puerto Principe two planes with aid from Argentina
5. ^ Argentina envía a los Cascos Blancos para asistir a los refugiados de Libia

• (Spanish) Official website

External links

• Official site