It was through a telegram sent to it on October 10, 1963 by Mr. Gunnar Jahn, President of the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament and published by the International Review in a previous number, that the International Committee learnt that it had been chosen, together with the League of Red Cross Societies, for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1963. This was a great distinction which had for these two international institutions a special significance in the year of the Centenary of the founding of the universal movement of the Red Cross.

The International Review has already published several studies on the history of humanitarian ideas. It was necessary to return to the origins and to mark the milestones in successive civilizations in the search for more humanity in the relations between individuals and nations.

Mr. Martin Bodmer will remain in office as Vice-President of the International Committee for 1964, whilst Mr. Hans Bachmann has been appointed Vice-President for the years 1964 and 1965.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has constituted its Presidential Council for 1964 as follows : President : Mr. Léopold Boissier; Vice-Presidents: Mr. Martin Bodmer and Mr. Hans Bachmann ; Members : Mr. Jacques Freymond, Mr. Ernest Gloor, Mr. Samuel Gonard and Mr. Frédéric Siordet.

As in past years, the message of Mr. L. Boissier, President of the ICRC, was this year recorded by the ICRC Broadcasting and Television Service. The message is as follows :

The year which is now coming to an end has been for the Red Cross a year of getting together, one of appraisal of its unity. Indeed, the numerous events which took place in Geneva and elsewhere on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of this world wide movement fully demonstrated that all the national and international Red Cross bodies rally themselves to a small number of universal principles, universally accepted and universally applied.

The sudden death at Casablanca of Mr. Camille Vautier, has deprived the International Committee of the Red Cross of a particularly useful colleague who has rendered it the most distinguished services as delegate in Morocco. He started his activities in 1943 at a time when the ICRC had to carry out extremely heavy tasks on behalf of the victims of war throughout the world. Mr. Vautier made more than 90 visits to prisoner-of-war and civilian detention camps in Morocco. He took at the same time an active part in important distributions of relief organized in favour of German and Italian prisoners in French hands.

Last month the International Review published an article on the tasks which the ICRC has undertaken during the past few months in the Yemen. The conflict in that country having been prolonged, the needs of the humanitarian action are consequently increasing. We now recall the various phases of the ICRC's intervention, in particular since November 1963.

At the request of shipowners whose headquarters are at Monaco, the ICRC approached the Algerian Red Crescent, in order to obtain news of the cargo “Hassiblal”, flying the Moroccan flag, which had been seized during the night of October 30–31, 1963, in the port of Nemours in Algeria.

The International Committee of the Red Cross learnt with satisfaction and gratitude of the unanimous decision of both Chambers of the Federal Parliament to grant it the sum of 8.8 million Swiss francs for the construction of a building to house the Central Tracing Agency and the Henry Dunant Institute, the latter to be run jointly by the League of Red Cross Societies and the Swiss Red Cross.

For some time past a considerable number of visitors from countries near and far have been coming to the headquarters of the ICRC. In 1963, in this year of celebration of the institution's Centenary, their numbers were to increase from June onwards to reach a figure of 4338 during the period July 15 to September 15. The number of visitors between June and December reached a total of over six thousand, to whom should be added delegates to the Congress (400 persons).

On December 19, 1963 a ceremony which has become tradition a took place during which the International Committee makes a point of showing its gratitude to those of its staff who have had twenty years' service. In this Centenary year Mr. Leopold Boissier expressed his gratitude on behalf of the institution of which he is President to eleven of these for their zeal and devotion. He presented a silver salver suitably inscribed to the following : Miss H. Dupuis, Miss A. Dutour, Mrs. M. Fischer, Mr. P. Gaillard, Miss M. Greffier, Mrs. M. Iconomow, Mr. C. Pecorini, Mr. C. Pluss, Mr. F. de Reynold, Mr. J. Rusconi and Mr. R. J. Wilhelm.