site.btaIFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain Receives Highest Award of Bulgarian Red Cross

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) received the highest award of the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) – a gold medal of merit for supporting the highly humanitarian activities of BRC, at a ceremony in Sofia on Thursday, BRC said in a press release. Chapagain was honoured by BRC Chair Acad. Hristo Grigorov.

Chapagain thanked BRC for the recognition and said the Red Cross does not take sides in conflicts. The Red Cross is where people affected by conflict seek help, he noted. The value of human life is of equal importance in every region of the world and pain and human suffering should not be treated differently depending on where and by whom they are inflicted, Chapagain emphasised.

In Sofia, Chapagain and IFRC members also conferred with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Iotova.

"The great mission of the Red Cross is not only to provide humanitarian aid in times of grave crises around the world, but also to continue to be the wake-up call of humanity," Radev stressed at his meeting with Chapagain. The Head of State expressed his appreciation to the IFRC Secretary General for the excellent cooperation and support that the IFRC provides to the BRC.

Jagan Chapagain serves as IFRC CEO and Secretary General since February 1, 2020. He is an engineer from Nepal who has some 30 years of experience in the international humanitarian federation. Chapagain joined the IFRC as a volunteer when he was at the age of 13.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the largest humanitarian network in the world, with 190 national organisations as members, including the Bulgarian Red Cross.