Prisoners of war. — On December 3, 1965, two representatives of the ICRC, Mr. Roger Du Pasquier (delegate in India) and Mr. Michel Martin (delegate in Pakistan) accompanied by Mr. Jacques Moreillon (assistant delegate in India) and by members of the National Red Cross Societies of India and Pakistan met between the lines for an exchange of parcels for prisoners of war of the two parties in conflict.

In 1964, the situation in Cyprus gave cause for alarm and the ICRC decided to intervene by providing relief to the victims of the disturbances. The International Review has published many details of this action and of the humanitarian work carried out by the International Committee delegates for the benefit of those in need on both sides. There is therefore no point in going over old ground, but we would like to give below some figures which convey an idea of the scope of the relief action.

Ambassador Averell Harriman, personal representative of the President of the United States, was received, at his request, on May 6, 1966 by Mr. Samuel A. Gonard, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The meeting bore on the position of prisoners of war in both North and South Vietnam.

The day before, the ICRC President had met U Thant, Secretary- General of the United Nations, who emphasized the importance of the task devolving on the ICRC to improve the lot of prisoners of war in Vietnam.

A series of top level International Red Cross meetings began in Geneva on April 22, 1966.

First was the traditional “three presidents” meeting of the Chairman of the Standing Commission (the Countess of Limerick, Great Britain), the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (Samuel A. Gonard), and the Chairman of the League of Red Cross Societies Board of Governors (José Barroso, Mexico).

The Expenditure and Receipts Account for 1965 shows a deficit of Sw.fr. 843,643.30 for a total expenditure of Sw.fr. 5,138,598.75, whereas the deficit forecast for the same period amounted to Sw.fr. 1,061,500.—. The improvement on the estimates reflects the International Committee's unremitting efforts to ensure constant economy in administration. None the less, the scope of the tasks incumbent upon it and their continual recurrence as a result of fresh conflicts each year reveal the Committee's inadequate financial basis which consistently threatens the institution's very existence.

The year 1966 marks the centenary of the birth of Romain Rolland which will be duly celebrated by various commemorative events. In this connection, the International Committee of the Red Cross would recall that the famous French writer, holder of the Nobel prize for literature, was at the beginning of the First World War a collaborator of the International Prisoners of War Agency, opened in Geneva in 1914. He worked voluntarily until July 1915 for the ICRC from which this Agency depended.

The documentary material prepared by the League of Red Cross Societies for World Red Cross Day in 1966, includes an interesting study by Mr. Kai J. Warras, Executive Chairman of the League Development Programme Advisory Panel and Secretary–General of the Finnish Red Cross. In this monograph the author examines one of the most important problems facing the Red Cross today, at a time when this movement is expanding considerably and when newly created Societies are carrying out their tasks under conditions which are often difficult. We believe the publication of Mr. Warras' study is a useful means of drawing attention to problems which can only be solved by schemes such as the large scale development programme to be carried out under our universal emblem.

The Federal Political Department in Berne has informed the ICRC that it has received the instrument of accession by the Republic of Honduras to the four Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. This accession will take effect on June 30, 1966.

The ICRC has just issued a new edition of the essential provisions of the Geneva Conventions. This publication, on strong paper, in pocket size, is available in French, English and German.