For almost two decades, the International Red Cross Movement has been engaged in a continuing process of self-examination regarding its contribution to peace and disarmament. At the same time, public attention is being focused on, and sometimes even captivated by, various bilateral and multilateral efforts to achieve progress in nuclear and non-nuclear arms control in fields such as the reduction of strategic and intermediate-range nuclear weapons, nuclear and chemical weapon-free zones, confidence- and security-building measures, and so on. The two lines of action are usually dealt with individually without proper consideration of the manifold interconnections existing between them. Only recently have efforts been made to clarify the relationship between the two. The purpose of this article is to bring them together and to do so by asking the question: To what extent can the effort to promote and implement international humanitarian law be seen as a contribution in terms of arms control?

At the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross (Geneva, 1986) the ICRC presented its report on the identification of medical transports, including the action taken to implement Resolution VIII of the previous International Conference. The report stressed that in a naval conflict the protection of medical transports at sea largely depended on the technical means of identification available.

By adopting its Resolution III entitled “Identification of medical transports”, the Twenty-fifth Conference recognized the need for continuous efforts to ensure that the means used to signal and identify medical personnel, units and transports keep pace with technical advances.

In 1977 the Thirtieth World Health Assembly decided that the main social goal of governments and WHO should be “the attainment by all citizens of the world by the year 2000 of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life”.

The International Conference on Primary Health Care (PHC), meeting in Alma Ata, USSR, in 1978, asserted that health is a human right and that health care should be accessible, affordable and socially relevant.

At its meeting of 27 November 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, the Council of Delegates, in its resolution No. 4 entitled “Information and dissemination of international humanitarian law as a contribution to peace”, had urged the Commission on the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and Peace “to take all necessary steps to improve ways and means of making better known and understood the role of the Movement in favour of peace by pointing out the connection between disseminating international humanitarian law and the Movement's Fundamental Principles and developing a spirit of peace.”

To mark the 125th anniversary of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Henry Dunant Society organized a two-day symposium in Geneva from 26 to 28 October 1988 on the direct precursors of the Red Cross.

For three days, historians and people working on the theoretical and practical side of the Red Cross and other academic and private institutions sought to discover or rediscover women and men who, especially in the nineteenth century, had the same concerns as the “Committee of Five” for wounded and sick soldiers and for prisoners of war and a desire to see both the wounded and those caring for them declared neutral and standing relief societies created. In short, the purpose of the symposium was to ascertain the influence of that humanitarian sensibility which found tangible expression with the founding of the Red Cross in 1863.

The International Museum of the Red Cross was inaugurated on 29 October 1988 in the presence of Swiss federal and cantonal government representatives, members of the permanent missions to the United Nations Office in Geneva and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the League and many National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The Museum, initially conceived to provide the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement with a means of becoming better known, attracting funds and inspiring young people, is the outcome of twelve years of tireless effort. Its purpose is not only to document the creation and expansion of the Movement, but also and above all to pay tribute to man's humanity throughout the centuries. As underscored by Mr. Otto Stich, President of the Swiss Confederation, who cut the inaugural ribbon, the International Museum of the Red Cross is “a testimony to the deed, the word or the look that, in the midst of war, violence and disaster, assists and saves”.

This is an accurate portrayal of the Museum, which emphasizes humanitarian endeavours rather than war and violence.

On 7 November 1988, Mr. René Felber, Head of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, and his wife visited the ICRC where they were welcomed by President Cornelio Sommaruga.

Mr. Sommaruga thanked the Federal Councillor for the support traditionally afforded to the ICRC by the Swiss Confederation. He then gave his guests a review of the ICRC's activities throughout the world.

During this general fact-finding visit to the ICRC, which was preceded by a tour of the International Museum of the Red Cross, Mr. Felber was accompanied by Ambassador Franz Muheim, Head of the Directorate of International Organizations at the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Rudolph Schaller, the Department's Secretary General.

At the invitation of Dr. Janos Hantos, President of the Executive Board of the Hungarian Red Cross, the ICRC President paid an official visit to Hungary from 15 to 20 September 1988, accompanied by Mr. M. Veuthey, Delegate General for Europe and North America, and Mrs. C. Kruck, who is in charge of dissemination for Europe and North America.

The ICRC President had discussions with top-level Hungarian Government officials, the Chairman (Prime Minister), Mr. Károly Grósz, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Péter Várkonyi, on ratification by Hungary of the Additional Protocols, the ICRC's financing and several of its current humanitarian operations.

The ICRC assisted more than 12 000 persons in northern Burundi following the outbreaks in August of violent ethnic disputes. Blankets, clothing, soap, cooking utensils and farming tools were distributed from mid-September to the affected population.

Relief materials were in part transported by truck from Uganda and in part purchased locally by the ICRC.

Distributions took place in the villages of Ntega and Marangara, near the border with Rwanda, where the recent clashes had occurred. Delegates distributed supplies first in the centres set up for displaced persons, then in the hills to which the population was gradually returning.

From 22 to 24 June 1988, an international conference was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on “Humanitarian Assistance in Armed Conflict”. It was organized by the University of Leiden's Red Cross Chair of International Humanitarian Law, together with the National Red Cross Societies of Belgium (Flemish Community) and The Netherlands.

The conference, which was attended by some 180 participants (with Her Royal Highness, Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, as the most distinguished among them) was opened by the Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Mr. Pieter Bukman. Professor René Jean Dupuy, professor of International Law at the College de France, Paris, gave the keynote speech at the opening session. Speakers during the three working sessions of the conference included representatives of the ICRC, the League, UNHCR, Médecins sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, CEBEMO (the Dutch Catholic Organization for Joint Financing of Development Programmes), Save the Children Fund, Oxfam UK, and the academic world.

The 22nd session of the Executive Council of the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was held in Geneva on 20 and 21 October 1988 under the chairmanship of Mr. Mario Villarroel, the League President.

The Council members heard a report from Mr. Par Stenback, Secretary General of the League, on the League Secretariat's activities since April 1988. Mr. Stenbäck referred to the series of natural disasters which had occurred during that period and stressed the need to widen the Secretariat's financial base, not only to be able to respond to natural disaster but also to do more for National Society development.

We have the honour of informing you that the Mozambique Red Cross Society has been officially recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross. This recognition, which took effect on 29 September 1988, brings to 147 the number of National Societies that are members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Founded on 10 July 1981, the Society officially applied for recognition by the International Committee of the Red Cross on 23 September 1988. In support of its application, it forwarded various documents, including a report on its activities, the text of its Statutes and a copy of Government Decree No. 7/88 of 17 May 1988 attesting that the Mozambique Red Cross Society is recognized by the Government as a voluntary aid society auxiliary to the public authorities in accordance with the provisions of the First Geneva Convention of 1949.

The ICRC learned with deep sadness of the death on 24 September 1988 of General Pietro Verri, President of the Florence Branch of the Italian Red Cross, and the death on 16 October 1988 of Mr. Soehanda Ijas, Co-Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross.

General Verri, former Vice-Commander of the Arma dei Carabinieri, was an active supporter of the Red Cross and a tireless champion of international humanitarian law (IHL), a subject in which he was well versed. He was a member of the Italian delegation to the Diplomatic Conference which led, in 1977, to the adoption of the Protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and as a profilic author and translator did much to promote the dissemination of IHL in his country. He drew his ability to do so from a flawless knowledge of the theoretical questions underlying the law of armed conflicts, coupled with a vast experience of the practical problems arising from the implementation of these rules. For several years he also acted as director of the courses set up by the Italian Red Cross to train instructors of humanitarian law and regularly taught the law of armed conflicts to members of the Air Force and Police Officer Academies.