We take pleasure in publishing the following study which was written in the spring of 1971. Some passages, as readers will observe, are no longer topical, such as the information given on the Conference of Government Experts, for our readers will know that, the 1971 conference is being followed by a second session from 3 May to 3 June 1972, in Geneva.

The study appeared in L'Univers politique 1970, and we express our thanks to the Editions Richelieu, Paris, for authorizing reproduction in our Review. (Ed.)

Nurses from twenty-five countries have been selected to receive the Florence Nightingale Medal this year. It is an honour which the ICRC, on the recommendation of National Societies, bestows every other year on women who, by a resolve to serve that is sometimes nothing short of heroic, have followed the example of the “Lady with the Lamp” and proved themselves worthy in the humanitarian sphere. They have responded to an appeal to which they are determined to remain true.

Our previous issue mentioned the Conference of Red Cross Experts on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts. The second session was held in Vienna in March, and we now give a summary report of the proceedings, in the course of which experts underlined the progress which has been made in this field. In general, they approved the ICRC's decision, with a view to simplification, to forgo drawing up several additional protocols in favour of dealing with the whole subject in two additional protocols, one relating to international, and the other to non-international, armed conflicts.

A further operation for the repatriation of wounded prisoners of war was conducted between India and Pakistan on 10 April 1972. The ICRC's DC-6 aircraft brought thirty-five Pakistani prisoners of war from New Delhi to Rawalpindi and, conversely, repatriated one Indian prisoner of war.

From 4 March to 9 April 1972, Mr. Jean Ott, ICRC Delegate-General for Asia and Oceania, made a trip which took him to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, the Republic of Vietnam, the Khmer Republic, Hong Kong and Japan. In all the countries he visited, Mr. Ott was received by Red Cross leaders, and in six of them by government authorities.

On 27 December 1971, Mr. Raymond Courvoisier requested the International Committee of the Red Cross to relieve him of his responsibilities as Director of Operations in order to resume his functions as Special Assistant to the President, for which he had been engaged.

The ICRC, at its meeting on 13 January 1972, agreed to this request, but asked Mr. Courvoisier to continue as Director of Operations for several months.

“The First Steps” is the title of a new 16 mm colour film which the Press and Information Division of the ICRC has just produced on the work it has been carrying out for several months in Bangladesh with the co-operation of several National Societies. Filmed last January in Dacca, Chittagong, Mirzapur, Comilla and other places, it lasts for 28 minutes, and English, French, German, Spanish and Italian versions may be ordered from the ICRC.