Two events of current interest give us cause to ponder on the significance of service to the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and the Red Lion and Sun. The first is the adoption by the twenty-third International Red Cross Conference, which met recently in Bucharest, of a resolution on the “Mission of the Red Cross”; the other is the commemoration this year of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Henry Dunant's birth. On this 8th of May, however, World Red Cross Day will not only be devoted as in the past to the memory of Dunant, but also to the activities throughout the world of the voluntary workers in the institution which he founded, and their work for the promotion of peace. The resolution in question underlines the “extreme importance” of the work carried out by National Societies “in the encouragement of social responsibility and voluntary service among their members”.

The Final Report on the Re-appraisal of the Role of the Red Cross, commonly called the Tansley Report, was the subject of a detailed though not exhaustive study, carried out by the ICRC and League.

The results of this analysis appeared in a document entitled The ICRC, the League and the Tansley Report, dated August 1977, which was circulated at the Twenty-Third International Conference of the Red Cross in Bucharest.

The question of peace is among the most important problems which the Red Cross has to consider. In this chapter the ICRC and the League set out their own thoughts, which must be read in conjunction. With all due knowledge of and respect for the other's considerations, each Institution attempts to bring its own specific contribution to the study and advancement of that universally cherished aspiration, peace.

“What role has the Red Cross played and, indeed, what role can it play, in connection with disarmament?”, was a question that the Red Cross asked itself during the recent International Red Cross Conference in Bucharest. We felt that this matter called for some serious thought as the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament drew near.

ICRC President Alexandra Hay was in North America during the first fortnight of March. He was accompanied by Jean-Pierre Hocke, Director, Operations Departement, and Michel Veuthey, Delegate to international organizations.

The Vice-President of the Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC), Dr. Nguyen Van Tin, accompanied by Mr. Truong Xuan Nam, Assistant Secretary-General, and Mr. Le Dong, member of the Society's Central Committee, were the guests of the International Red Cross (IRC) in Geneva from 31 March to 7 April.

At the end of March 1978, the ICRC in a private ceremony took leave of Mr. Claude Pilloud who had reached the age limit and was leaving the service of the ICRC after a fruitful career lasting nearly forty years. On behalf of the ICRC, its President, Mr. A. Hay, thanked Mr. Pilloud for the eminent services he had rendered to the whole of the Red Cross movement.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Djibouti sent a letter dated 5 January 1978 which reached the Swiss Federal Council on 26 January 1978, and in which he declared that his State considered itself bound by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949, by virtue of its prior ratification by France.

During the first two months of the year ICRC activities in Southern Africa have developed substantially.

In December 1977, the ICRC appealed for funds to cover its relief programmes for the first four months of the year and its operating expenses until the end of June 1978. Initially for 3.1 million Swiss francs, the amount appealed for was increased by 1 million francs to meet the cost of several medical projects in Mozambique and of operations by two medical teams in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.