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.