On 4 January, after a suspension of more than five months, the ICRC was able to resume its flights in the country, starting with the provinces of Manica and Sofala. Delegates flew to several isolated districts to assess the needs of the civilian population there and to provide people with the relief they required. Heavy rains, however, repeatedly prevented the planes from landing and impeded the delegates' work.

ICRC delegates continued visiting security detainees held by the Ministry of Security who were either awaiting trial or had already been sentenced. In January, they visited Quelimane Prison, and in February they went to Temba (Cabo Delgado Province), Lichinga and Cuamba (Niassa Province) Prisons. They began visiting prisons in the country on 27 June 1988 and have now been to all the detention centres in the capital and the provinces under the authority of the Ministry of Security.

In the beginning…

Peace was part of the vision of Henry Dunant when, having seen the human suffering and misery on the battlefield of Solferino, he was inspired to create a humanitarian organization that would aid all people affected by war. His ultimate objective was not merely to relieve the suffering caused by war but to instil in mankind a spirit of peace. He believed that if we instil humanitarian ideas in people, and inspire everyone with a horror of the spirit of vengeance, hatred and destruction, we shall counteract the terrible scourge of war and perhaps avert it completely.

The quest for peace has been an integral part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement since its inception. The Movement has many other goals but in pursuing them all it tries to spread the spirit of peace.

During its November 1987 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the Council of Delegates adopted a programme (Resolution No. 7) to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. For one event it was decided that all States would be asked to make an exceptional “Humanitarian Gesture” on 8 May 1989, World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. This gesture was intended to restore a sense of hope and dignity to people or groups of people who are destitute, in despair or forgotten.

At its meeting on 15 December 1988, the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross made the following appointments to take effect on 1 January 1989:

• Mr. Richard Pestalozzi, a member of the ICRC since 1977 and a member of the Executive Board, retired on reaching the age limit and was made an Honorary Member of the ICRC.

• Mr. Dietrich Schindler, a member of the ICRC since 1980, was re-elected for a third term and Mr. Pierre Keller, a member of the ICRC since 1984, was re-elected for a second term.

Following ethnic clashes in Mauritania and Senegal in April, the ICRC sent delegates to both countries.

Initially, with the situation still unclear, the delegates carried out complete surveys on both sides of the border to ascertain medical needs and endeavoured to repatriate the injured and sick from Senegal to Mauritania and vice versa. At the same time they worked together with the two National Societies to set up a tracing network to meet the needs of tens of thousands of people who had crossed from one country to the other, often at night and in great haste. In addition, delegates visited Mauritanian and Senegalese prisons to provide protection for foreigners detained there.

On 22 September 1989 Mr. Flavio Cotti, Head of the Federal Department of the Interior, visited the International Committee of the Red Cross, where he was received by the institution's President, Cornelio Sommaruga. Mr. Cotti also met members of the Committee and senior ICRC staff.

On 13 November 1989, the Head of the Federal Military Department and Mrs. Villiger visited the International Committee of the Red Cross, where they were received by President Cornelio Sommaruga. Mr. Villiger was accompanied by, Majors General Peter Eichenberger, Chief Medical Officer, Carlo Vincenz, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, and Fritz Husi, Director of the Federal Office of Adjutancy.

The ICRC was deeply distressed to learn of the death on 24 December 1988 of Dr. Jacques F. de Rougemont, one of its Honorary Members.

Dr. de Rougemont was elected a member of the ICRC in 1967. He was a member of the Presidential Council from 1968 to 1971 and became an Honorary Member in 1987.

He did excellent work for the ICRC over many years; he sat on various commissions and working groups and carried out numerous missions for the institution, in particular to Poland to assist victims of pseudo-medical experiments practised in concentration camps under the Nazi regime. The bonds of trust which he forged there made it possible to launch a major dissemination programme and, in 1982, the ICRC was able to visit people interned under martial law.

The representatives of 24 national associations of journalists from the African continent together with nine international organizations (including UNESCO, UNHCR and UNDRO) took part in a seminar held in Tunis from 7 to 11 February on the theme “Humanity and the media”.

Organized jointly by the ICRC and the Union of African journalists (UAJ) in collaboration with the Association of Tunisian Journalists, this meeting was the second of its kind; the first one took place in Nairobi in 1985 and dealt with the theme “African Journalists and International Humanitarian Law”.

At its ordinary session of 24 August 1989, the International Committee of the Red Cross decided to appoint Mr. Guy Deluz as its Director-General.

As planned in September 1988, the International Committee took stock of how its new administrative structures had functioned during their first year. It decided to strengthen the Directorate established at the time by appointing a Director-General at its head.

For several days in October, the ICRC and humanitarian law had a high profile at United Nations Headquarters in New York. On 13 October, a ceremony was held there to mark the 125 th anniversary of the original Geneva Convention of 1864. This was followed by the opening of an exhibition on the Geneva Conventions and the work of the ICRC.

ICRC activities continued under the new government following President Omer Hassan el-Beshir's coup d'état on 30 June. Contact was immediately established with the new authorities who gave their permission to the ICRC to pursue its activities.

Prisoners in government hands were visited by the ICRC on 23 August in Wau and the following day in Juba. The three and five prisoners seen respectively wrote Red Cross messages. The 105 government soldiers held by rebel forces and visited in June were seen again on 24 August.

At the end of November the ICRC received authorization from the Sudanese Government and the necessary assurances from the SPLM/SPLA opposition movement to implement the plan of action which had been drawn up and flights began on 4 December. During the final month of the year, ICRC aircraft flew regular missions to Wau and Aweil in the zone under government control and to Akon and Yirol in the SPLA-controlled zone, taking off either from Khartoum, Kenya (Lokichokio) or Uganda (Entebbe).

The ICRC was very sad to hear of the death of Justice J. A. Adefarasin, President of the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1977 to 1981 and National President of the Nigerian Red Cross. His election as head of the world federation of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies marked an important stage in the history of the League, further enhancing the spirit of universality which has inspired its work since 1919.

Judge Adefarasin was also able to give the League the benefit of his long experience in the service of the Red Cross and with his personal qualities of open-mindedness, moderation and altruism set a high example of devotion to the Red Cross ideal.

In September, the ICRC began its annual seed distribution programme for some 120,000 families on the Angolan Planalto. The delegation continued to keep the food situation there under close observation and distributed food where necessary. The many nutritional surveys carried out on the Planalto showed an alarming rise in the rate of malnutrition.