History

MRCS began the operations in 1920 as a branch of the Indian Red Cross Society. After Burma formally separated from Indian in 1937, the Society obtained official, national status in 1939 by International Committee of Red Cross and was admitted to the international Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in 1946.

Existence of Law

In 1959, the state enacted the society as a humanitarian organization. Under the Act, the Saint John Nurses Brigade was reorganized into the Society Red Cross Brigade. After the amendments of the Act were made in 1964,1971 and 1988, the law was amended again to comply with the provisions of the Act in accordance with the present needs. On 26 August, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approved the Myanmar Red Cross Society Law as Law No. 52. In order to implement this law, the Ministry of Health and Sports issued the rules of the Myanmar Red Cross Society on 25 November 2019 with the approval of the Union Government.

Formation

The highest governing body of the Society is the Red Cross Assembly, which convenes once every three years and elects 71 Red Cross central council members to approve resolutions and policies. 11 executive members are elected from these council members to implement these resolutions and policies and they carry out the society’s policies and guidelines.

Red Cross Supervisory committees have been set up nationwide in 17 States and Regions and 74 districts to carry out the society’s humanitarian activities in a timely manner. It is made up of 330 township red cross branches and has a hierarchical management system. There are three types of members which are categorized the lifetime member, ordinary member and brigade member.

Properties

The society has 30 warehouses in States and Regions, to provide timely assistance to effective people. According to the records in 2020, there are (211) townships where MRCS’s branches own the land and there are (144) townships where Red Cross Branch’s own offices and buildings are existed.