Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
King Charles presented the first honourees of a new Humanitarian Medal at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Humanitarian Medal was formed in July 2023 to honour those who support communities in the aftermath of disasters, whether they work in public service or on behalf of charitable organisations.
The three eligible humanitarian responses that can be considered for the Humanitarian Medal are the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the Libya floods of September 2023 and the Moroccan earthquake in September 2023. Per Buckingham Palace, the work rewarded includes “providing disaster relief or aid provision in hazardous circumstances such as conflict zones.”
The King presented The Humanitarian Medal to 31 individuals; among them are workers with the UK Emergency Medical Team, the FCDO Humanitarian Response Group, Medical Aid for Palestinians, the UK International Search and Rescue team, the Moroccan Biodiversity and Livelihoods Association, the FCDO at the British Embassy in Rabat, the Humanitarian Stabilisation Operations Team, the Global Diversity Foundation, and the British Consulate General Jerusalem.
Dr Matthew Newport, an anaesthetist who went to Gaza on five separate occasions to help with the ongoing crisis there, told the BBC after the ceremony that The Humanitarian Medal was “really just recognition that the work is valuable.”
The Humanitarian Medal features laurel wreaths “symbolising victory in overcoming a crisis” according to the Cabinet Office, with a banner that reads ‘For humanitarian service.’ The ribbon is striped with white, red, light blue, dark blue and purple to represent the various paths of humanitarian service and services required in these responses. The Cabinet Office says that the white stripe represents civilians and peace, the red represents humanitarian organisations, light blue represents the NHS and dark blue and purple represent other services.