The 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent was held in Geneva from 3 to 7 December 1995. It was organized jointly, for the first time, by the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and brought together approximately 1,200 delegates representing 143 States party to the Geneva Conventions, 166 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the ICRC, and the Federation, as well as 68 governmental and non-governmental organizations and emergent National Societies attending as observers.

Following an impressive multivision slide show on humanitarian action entitled "The Way Things Are", Botho Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, as Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, welcomed the participants. He then appealed to governments to facilitate the work of the Movement and to continue supporting its efforts to strengthen humanitarian aid and social assistance. He ended by urging the participants to unite in honouring the Movement's commitment to counteract violence and oppression and to safeguard respect for human life, health and dignity.

In his opening remarks, Botho Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein urged the representatives of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and States attending the International Conference, and the members of governmental and non-governmental organizations participating as observers, to give priority to discussing the interests of the victims of conflicts and natural disasters.

I shall speak today of a bright prospect for our world which can become a reality if we all believe in it and work together for it.

I express this hope in the same spirit that prevailed at the first International Conference — convened 132 years ago — which overcame the misgivings of the sceptics and led to the creation of the initial Geneva Convention. That treaty conferred protection on wounded and sick soldiers in time of war and on those who cared for them. Since then, the same protection has been given in international law to wounded and sick members of the armed forces at sea, prisoners of war, civilians in wartime and -- to some extent owing to the change in the nature of conflict over recent decades -- vulnerable victims of civil strife.

The world is weighed down by the victims of too many tragedies. Today, at this 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, it is in the name of those victims, the sole reason for our presence here, that I am addressing the representatives of the States party to the Geneva Conventions and those of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Our Movement is faced with the challenge of protecting and assisting these hapless individuals, whose numbers, alas, are growing day by day. Moreover, the situations in which we have to take action are ever more complex, whether they result from natural or technological disasters, which often occur in developing countries where there is no proper infrastructure, or from armed conflicts and other forms of violence affecting entire populations whose authorities are generally powerless to protect them. It is our solidarity with the victims of these situations that gives us our strength — and this solidarity is expressed through the separate but complementary activities conducted by the National Societies, their International Federation and the ICRC. The complementary nature of our respective tasks, which is the result of experience and is enshrined in our Statutes, is precisely what makes us effective.

Commission I, which was chaired by H.E. Ambassador Hisashi Owada, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York, had two main items on its agenda: discussion of the follow-up to the 1993 International Conference for the Protection of War Victims held in Geneva and action to be taken in that regard by the 26th International Conference, and examination of a number of humanitarian issues relating to the protection of the civilian population in times of armed conflict. The Commission also took note of the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea.

Commission II met under the chairmanship of Mr Ousmane Diagne, President of the Senegalese Red Cross, to discuss humanitarian values and response to crisis. Representatives of the Federation and the ICRC began the proceedings by introducing the topics outlined in two documents entitled “Principles and response in international humanitarian assistance and protection” and “Strengthening capacity to assist and protect the most vulnerable” (Docs. 95/C.II/2/1 and 95/C.II/3/1 respectively).

During the second plenary meeting, the Conference unanimously adopted an amendment to the Movement's Statutes and Rules of Procedure, replacing all references to the “League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies” throughout the texts by “International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies”. This amendment had been adopted by the General Assembly of the Federation in 1991.

The third plenary meeting began with an account by the Rapporteurs of the work of the two Commissions. Professor José Manuel Carrilho Ribeiro, President of the Portuguese Red Cross, reported on the work of Commission I (see pp. 36–42 above) and Mr Jaime J. Yambao, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Philippines, reported on the work of Commission II (see pp. 43–48 above).

The 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent,

noting with great concern the increasing number of armed conflicts taking place in various parts of the world,

alarmed by the gross and persistent violations of international humanitarian law that are being committed, particularly against civilians, including the most vulnerable,

deeply concerned about the grief and suffering resulting from such violations,

The Council of Delegates met on 1 and 2 December 1995 in Geneva and was attended by some 600 delegates (twice as many as in Birmingham in 1993) from the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and representatives from the ICRC and the Federation.

The meeting was opened by Botho Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, in his capacity as Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The Council of Delegates,

alarmed by the increasing number of vulnerable people continuously suffering from or threatened by man-made and natural disasters all over the world,

committed to the Movement's Fundamental Principles, which include humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, that enable it to act on behalf of the victims and vulnerable people and to advocate their cause,

emphasizing that it is necessary, in the interest of all those whom the Movement seeks to assist and protect, to strengthen the unique relationship between the Movement and the States party to the Geneva Conventions, which finds one concrete expression in the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent,

stressing that the International Conference is a forum for dialogue on humanitarian matters whose effectiveness for victims and vulnerable people depends on the participation of all those concerned with humanitarian issues, and that the 26th International Conference was convened in conformity with the Statutes of the Movement,

concerned to avoid a situation in which issues of a political nature may disrupt the International Conference or divide the Movement,

1. reaffirms its commitment to holding the 26th International Conference in 1995;

2. appeals to all participants in the International Conference, in the interest of all victims and vulnerable people, to safeguard its exclusively humanitarian character, in particular by respecting the Fundamental Principles during the Conference, in conformity with the Statutes of the Movement;

3. requests all National Societies to convey this appeal to their respective governments at their earliest convenience;

4. confirms the commitment of all components of the Movement to act in conformity with the Fundamental Principles throughout the International Conference in order to preserve the unity of the Movement.

At the end of 1995, the International Committee of the Red Cross bade farewell to Jacques Meurant, editor-in-chief of the International Review of the Red Cross since 1986. At the end of a career spanning more than thirty years in the service of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including ten years in charge of the Review, Mr Meurant is leaving for a well-deserved retirement.

Hans-Peter Gasser was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1939. He is a Swiss national, married and has two sons, who are at university. After attending primary and secondary schools in Zurich, Mr Gasser read law at the University of Zurich and received a doctorate in 1965. He also holds a Master of Law (LL.M.) degree from Harvard Law School (United States).