The ICRC has always maintained contacts, often close ones, with the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. According to Article 3 of the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, “the National Societies form the basic units and constitute a vital force of the Movement”. In this sense, the ICRC regards them as special partners in the conduct of its humanitarian activities, as it recently re-emphasized in its strategic study on the organization's future, which it shared with all the National Societies in a letter dated 16 December 1997: “As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement — of which it is the founder — the ICRC works to ensure respect for the Fundamental Principles and cooperates primarily with the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and their Federation” (emphasis added).

The 25th International Conference of the Red Cross stressed the importance of tracing, asking “all the National Societies to carry out to the best of their capacity the role which they are called upon to play as components of the international network for tracing and reuniting families”.

The Cuban Red Cross, which was founded on 10 March 1909, was recognized by Presidential Decree No. 401 of the same year as an “aid society auxiliary to the public authorities”. For more than half a century its activities remained rather modest, focusing on health care for the most needy groups in Cuban society, for example by setting up dispensaries and offering medical and dental services at no charge or for a nominal fee.

The Nigerian Red Cross Society has its roots in the year 1917, when the country was still under British rule. In that year the British Red Cross for the first time organized a fund-raising event in Lagos. There followed the formation of what was then known as the Nigeria Central Branch of the British Red Cross Society, with headquarters in Lagos. The branch had divisions in the then three regions of the country — Eastern, Northern and Western — with headquarters respectively in Enugu, Kaduna and Ibadan. Once Nigeria achieved independence, on 1 October 1960, the Nigerian Red Cross Society was born through an act of parliament (“The Nigerian Red Cross Society Act of 1960”). Today, the Society has a branch in each of the country's 36 states as well as in Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory.

“Closely associating the National Societies with ICRC's operational activities (either via seconded staff contributions, or through project delegations or bilateral projects), on the one hand to increase the Movement's operational capacity in the face of growing needs, and on the other to respond to the National Societies' desire to intensify their international activities and make them better known.”

The break-up of Yugoslavia and the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina represented the first major conflict on European soil since the end of the Second World War. It confronted politicians, military planners, journalists and aid workers alike with daunting challenges that often posed acute dilemmas. In many ways, the war threw into question the international community's ability to respond to the issues at hand and meet the needs encountered. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was not spared this challenge.

Cooperation between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the British Red Cross has traditionally been limited to the National Society providing cash, delegates and contributions in kind for ICRC programmes. At most, actual Society involvement in ICRC operations has extended to earmarking contributions for a particular country or programme; the Society has not been involved in planning, implementing or reviewing ICRC work. However, it has consistently contributed at least 25% of its budget for international activities to the ICRC and provided it with field delegates. The proportion is growing and, over the past three years, British Red Cross contributions to the ICRC have increased to over 50% of its international budget, more than £15 million in 1996. In addition, the Society currently provides 12% of the ICRC's delegates.

In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, the British government clearly stated its intention of granting independence to India.

The conflict between the British and the Indian nationalists receded into the background, while the increasing antagonism between Hindus and Muslims came to the fore. The Hindus, centred round the Congress Party led by Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to maintain the unity of India by establishing a government made up of representatives of the two communities. The Muslims, under the banner of the Muslim League and its President, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, demanded the creation of a separate Muslim State, Pakistan. The problem was further complicated by the fact that the approximately 300 million Hindus, 6 million Sikhs and 100 million Muslims in British India were not living in geographically distinct regions, especially in Punjab and Bengal, where the population was mixed.

On 17 December 1996, the delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross was one of the 600 guests at a reception hosted by the Japanese ambassador in Lima. When the commando unit of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru — MRTA)carried out its spectacular hostage-taking operation and the ICRC delegate made himself known to the commando unit, wondering whether in so doing he was acting as an intermediary was hardly at the forefront of his mind: he was content to take action because the situation so demanded and because the physical integrity of hundreds of people was under threat. I was that delegate. In doing what I did at that moment, I was merely repeating the humanitarian act performed by hundreds of ICRC delegates throughout the world, that of Henry Dunant at Solferino and of many others elsewhere — that is, helping the victims of violence. This is what being a neutral intermediary is all about: placing oneself voluntarily in the midst of a confrontation and lending a helping hand. In that sense, the term “intermediary” is perfectly suited for defining the action of the ICRC per se and its humanitarian base. Within the organization, the term means something more specific, as distinguished from protection and assistance, and designates a function which involves serving as a messenger between conflicting parties, for humanitarian reasons and in the absence of any other intermediary. This is where a certain amount of confusion and a number of difficulties arise, some inherent in the very role of intermediary and others arising from the circumstances themselves.

Cartagena de Chairá, 15 June 1997: the five Russian helicopters churned up clouds of dust as they deposited their precious cargo —70 soldiers of the government army who had been defeated and captured by the guerrillas nine-and-a-half months earlier. The spectacular landing in the jungle hideout gave them their first taste of freedom and marked the end of an episode in the war which had humiliated the military high command and kept the whole country in suspense. Hence the rejoicing was all the greater as the 70 soldiers, who had been presumed dead, were finally reunited with their mothers in an emotional scene, and the whole of Colombia briefly savoured the sweet illusion that peace was just around the corner. In front of international observers and countless journalists, the guerrilla commanders completed the handover of the soldiers to the ICRC with a moving ceremony. Then the soldiers boarded the helicopters again. Accompanied by an ICRC delegate and a member of the National Reconciliation Commission, they were flown to the army base at nearby Larandia, where the military leadership gave them an official reception with a brass band and laid on a buffet meal.

The proliferation of crises around the world has led to a sharp increase in the scale of humanitarian aid required to meet the vital needs of the people affected by them for food, water, medical care and shelter. Humanitarian organizations can either meet those needs directly or support local services engaged in the same work. In most cases, both approaches are used.

In any discussion about security, the primary consideration must be the need to preserve the neutrality, independence and impartiality of humanitarian action. This is the essential precondition for the ICRC's ability to protect and assist the victims of conflict. Sooner or later, any humanitarian activity which runs counter to these fundamental principles either incurs the mistrust of the people it intends to assist or becomes completely paralysed.

Under aerospace doctrine an aerial action is a set of aerial sorties of the same nature which take place simultaneously in pursuit of a common aim. In other words, an action of this type would attain the objective pursued if it involved two or more aircraft engaging in any of a range of operations, namely attacks, reconnaissance, transportation and special aerial missions.