ICRC President Peter Maurer today held a press conference in Kinshasa to bring attention to the humanitarian situation in the Kivus.

Sadly, we have been present in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the last 35 years and while the geography and dynamics of the conflict might have changed, the same fundamental problem - disrespect of the basic principles of IHL by parties - persists.

This June 12, 1978 interview with delegate Jeanne Egger about our response to fighting in Kolwesi, in Katanga province, illustrates the continuing plight of Congolese civilians and our longstanding relationship with their National Red Cross Society.

October 2012 marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Henry Dunant's A Memory of Solferino, the foundational text of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and of the ICRC.

The battle of Solferino was fought in northern Italy in June 1859 and left around 6,000 men dead and 35,000 wounded or missing. It was a decisive episode in the struggle for Italian unification and a pivotal moment in the history of humanitarian action.