Red Cross is evolving
Let your voice be heard—Join us in reforming the Red Cross!
You now have the chance to affect what the Red Cross will be like in the future. Together, we can ensure that we are able to provide effective, correctly timed help to those in the direst need.
The world is changing faster than ever before. The change also affects what kind of help people need and what are the most effective ways of helping. We need the voice of every volunteer, member and employee so that we can meet the demands of the change together.
The core mission of the Red Cross—to help those who need help—remains the same. To ensure that those who need help the most receive it, we need to evolve. The reform does not mean that we are abandoning all familiar methods of helping, but we are complementing them with new methods.
Red Cross reform moving forward
In summer 2025, we published two proposals for new operating models for the Red Cross. Volunteers, members and staff had the opportunity to provide their insight on the operating models by completing a questionnaire. We also organised workshops for volunteers and staff to discuss the operating models.
From the responses to the questionnaire and the results of the workshops for volunteers and staff, we have drafted a situational picture of the Red Cross reform, which compiles an up-to-date report on the Red Cross reform process and provides background information for the preparation of the future policy. The situational picture will be published in December 2025.
Local activities, community, support for volunteering and clear support structures emerged as important themes in the workshops for volunteers. Volunteers are committed and ready for change, as long as it is done together and sufficient support is provided.
Based on the ideas raised in the workshops and the survey, a proposal for the future Red Cross strategy will be drafted, including our policy and future operating model. The operating model includes a description of how the activities of the Red Cross will be organised. The shared discussion will continue in early 2026, when volunteers and staff will be able to comment on the proposal.
The reform is an opportunity for all of us. It allows us to create an even more effective and efficient Red Cross that is close to those who need help and offer it. Join us! A strong, effective and humane Red Cross can only be created together!
Materials
Description of the operating models
Watch the presentation by Eero Rämö, Secretary General of the Finnish Red Cross: Changing needs for aid and proposals for new operational models
Changing needs for aid – summary of the situational picture
The report prepared by Diaconia University of Applied Sciences is based on an analysis of the operational environment, an examination of megatrends, and the identification of local phenomena.
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News
The Red Cross is reforming as the world around it is changing
For nearly 150 years, the Red Cross has been helping those in emergency situations, protecting life, and defending human dignity and rights. The basis for all our work and planning is individuals in need of aid and helping them. Solutions we created in the past came in response to the needs for help at that time. However, as the world changes, so too does the need for help.
The General Assembly 2023 decided to initiate in this policy term a discussion at all levels of the organisation on with what types of administrative and personnel structures we are best prepared to meet the changing needs related to aid. All branches are encouraged to seek and experiment with new operating methods.
Enquiries
Red Cross reform:
Development Manager Sanna Pesonen, +358(0)40 624 9543, sanna.pesonen@redcross.fi
District discussions:
District contact persons or Organisational Development Specialist Maija Erpestad, maija.erpestad@redcross.fi