GCSE Modern History/The Humanitarian Work of the League

Humanitarian work was one of the areas that the League was most successful in.

Social problems

Many agencies and commissions worked to reduce social problems. Some of their successes include:

• Freed more than 200 000 slaves.
• Brought death rate in the construction of the Tanganyika railway in Africa from 50% to 4%.
• Organized raids against slave owners/traders.
• Blacklisted four large companies involved in illegal drug trading.

Health

The Health Committee, later renamed to the World Health Organization (WHO), did lots of work to improve health around the world. It provided mosquito nets to the most at risk countries. In doing this; it vastly reduced the number of deaths from malaria per year. The league also prevented leprosy. This is considered one of the best successes that the league had.

Transport

The League made an international highway code that was adopted by many member countries.

Refugees

The Refugees Committee worked to bring refugees back to their homes. Over 400 000 war prisoners were taken back to their homes by the Refugees Committee.

Working conditions

The International Labour Organization campaigned for better working conditions around the world. Some of its successes include:

• Banned poisonous white lead from paint.
• Limited the hours small children could work.
• Resolution for maximum 48-hour week and 8-hour day passed, but lots of member countries didn't adopt it.