Board of Governors. — It is for the Secretariat of the League of Red Cross Societies, in its own publications, to report on the 26th session of its Board of Governors, which was held in Prague from September 30 to October 7, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. John MacAulay, and to comment on the numerous decisions which were made on this occasion.

The search for missing persons in the Orientale and Kivu provinces. — A member of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Congo, Mr. Georges Olivet, has just carried out a mission lasting more than a month in the Orientale and Kivu Provinces with the object of continuing searches for persons missing as a result of the events which took place last year. This consisted of clearing up more than a hundred cases for which enquiries had been made and to which the ICRC delegation in Leopoldville had not yet been able to reply.

This is an important activity of the Central Tracing Agency. The ICRC has in fact continued without a break the action which it has undertaken for several years, whose purpose it is to reunite or to contribute towards reuniting members of families dispersed by the second world conflict or as a result of the events which subsequently followed in Europe.

The annual report of the International Committee of the Red Cross has appeared recently and contains a considerable amount of information on the Institution's activities during 1960.

Miss Lucie Odier has asked to be relieved of her duties and the International Committee has taken note of her resignation with the greatest regret.

The International Committee has awarded its Gold Medal to Mr. Carl J. Burckhardt on the occasion of his 70th birthday in recognition of the eminent services which he has rendered. This high honour had only previously been bestowed upon Mr. Max Huber, Mr. Jacques Cheneviére and Miss Lucie Odier.