Deprived of an important subsidy, the International Museum of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent in Geneva risked closing its doors in 2027. It will finally be able to continue to exist thanks to new funding, in particular the Confederation.
It is an “immense relief” at the International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (Micr), breath Pascal Hufschmid, the director of the institution, interviewed in Forum.
The pressure dropped after months of uncertainty. Last September, the director had indeed learned that a saving plan of the Confederation’s budget endangered the survival of the place, located a stone’s throw from the headquarters of the Red Cross International Committee (ICRC), in Geneva.
Since 1991, the museum has received an annual subsidy of 1.1 million francs from the Federal Foreign Affairs Department (DFAE), representing approximately a quarter of its overall budget. Without this aid, the institution was likely to close in 2027.
>> Read also: The Red Cross museum in Geneva plans to move to Abu Dhabi
Saved in extremis
Following an intense political mobilization, the micr is saved in extremis. The museum learned at the start of the week that the Federal Culture Office (OFC) decided to support it, up to 170,000 francs per year for the period 2027-2030. The City of Geneva, as well as again the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) up to 400,000 francs, will also get their hands on the wallet.
In the longer term, however, it will be necessary to “work to find more stable funding”, concedes Pascal Hufschmid. And for good reason: the total amount of subsidies (970,000 francs) remains lower than current federal support (1,072,900 francs), creating a slight deficit.
An “absolutely useful” museum
In the future, it will be a question of “continuing the diversification” of the funding of the museum, explains its director. He also specifies that “more than 50% of the resources” of the micr already come from equity (ticket office and sponsors, among others).
This ex-Marchand of art wants to be confident, however. He firmly believes in the “mission of public interest” that this place steeped in history fulfills. “We are an absolutely useful museum” which allows us to contextualize “humanitarian principles”, and “better understand the world in which we live”, he supports.
>> See also the interview with Pascal HUFSCHMID in local colors:
Interview by Coralie Claude
Web article: Doreen Ensssle with ATS
