Suchergebnisse

The Regulations of the Augusta Fund provide for the distribution of income from the Fund every fourth year on the occasion of the International Red Cross Conferences. As these Conferences do not take place at regular intervals, the International Committee of the Red Cross has informed the National Societies, in its Circular No. 429 of March 20, 1960, that such income would henceforth be distributed every fourth year, irrespective of the date on which the Conferences are held.

In its Circular No. 437 of August 23, 1962, the International Committee of the Red Cross had the honour to invite the Central Committees of National Societies to send in the names of nurses and voluntary aids whom they judged qualified to receive the Florence Nightingale Medal. This invitation, which quoted Article I of the Regulations, was accompanied by questionnaires bearing various headings for the candidatures.

The International Committee of the Red Cross wishes to thank the large number of persons who have responded to its appeal and have come here to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of its foundation.Mr. Pierre Boissier will shortly be describing to you how this work began, reminding you how much the whole world owes to the five men of Geneva who created the Red Cross. Did they not accomplish, with astonishing courage and tenacity, the two great ideas of their colleague Henry Dunant: the declaration of legal principles leading, on the one hand, to the protection of the victims of war and, on the other hand, to the forming of National Societies whose task it was to assist the Army Medical Services in the theatre of hostilities ? Furthermore, by constituting themselves as an International Committee, they foresaw that it could carry out the dual role of a neutral and impartial body which would propagate and develop humanitarian law and also send delegates to places in which fighting was taking place who would see to the application of this law. The principles and the action would thus be complementary.

Some months after the heart-rending appeal of A Memory of Solferino, five Genevese citizens met to put into practice the proposals which Henry Dunant had made at the end of his book. With the exception of General Dufour, these were men of the middle class, without particular authority in their country and without contacts abroad. Nevertheless, they had faith in themselves and in the immense task which they were to undertake. Their discussions revealed uncommon good sense and a very clear perception of their action's possibilities. They were aware of what they could do in 1863, and they left it to future generations to achieve what would have been Utopian in their day. It was therefore with calm assurance that they addressed themselves to Heads of State and to public opinion.

On February 17, 1963, the International Committee of the Red Cross will have had a hundred years of existence.On February 9, 1863, the Public Welfare Society of Geneva met at the instigation of its President, Gustave Moynier, to study the proposals which Henry Dunant had formulated at the end of his book "A Memory of Solferino" : first of all to create already in peace-time aid societies which in time of war would assist the army medical service ; then to conclude an international Convention which would serve as a basis for their action. The Public Welfare Society then appointed from amongst its members a Committee of five, in order to prepare a memorandum on the subject which would be presented to a forthcoming relief congress.

Quelques mois après l'appel angoissé du Souvenir de Solférino, cinq citoyens de Genève se réunissent pour mettre en pratique les propositions qu'Henry Dunant a faites à la fin de sa brochure. Le général Dufour excepté, ce sont des hommes de condition moyenne, sans autorité particulière dans leur pays et sans relations à l'étranger. Cependant, ils ne doutent ni d'eux-mêmes ni de la tâche immense qu'ils vont entreprendre. Leurs délibérations révèlent un rare bon sens et une perception très nette des possibilitès de leur action. Ils sont conscients de ce qu'ils peuvent faire en 1863, laissant aux générations futures le soin de réaliser ce qui serait une utopie à leur époque. C'est done avec une tranquille assurance qu'ils s'adressent aux chefs d'Etats et à l'opinion publique.

We have the honour to inform you of the official recognition, on November 1, 1962, of the Upper Volta Red Cross Society by the International Committee of the Red Cross.This Society applied for recognition in a letter dated August 20, 1962. The application was accompanied by the Upper Volta Government's Decree of July 9, 1962, recognizing the Society, together with the text of the Society's Statutes, and a report of its activities.

I have the honour to draw your attention to the Memorandum attached hereto, which the International Committee of the Red Cross is addressing to the Governments of States party to the Geneva Conventions and members of the United Nations.

We have the honour to inform you of the official recognition, on September 7, 1961, of the Togolese Red Cross Society by the International Committee of the Red Cross.