The 16th Annual Conference of the International Defence and Aid Fund was held in Norway from 4-6 May 1979. Delegates from National Committees in Ireland, the Netherlands, Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States attended, together with the President, Canon John Collins, and the Vice-Presidents of the Fund. Observers were present from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
The guest speaker was Mr. E.S. Reddy of the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid, whose address dealt with the crisis in Southern Africa and the UN role, particularly in relation to the Fund's areas of work. On 4 May delegates were guests at a reception given by the Government of Norway at the Government Guest House in Oslo, when the Prime Minister H.E.Mr. Odvar Nordli welcomed the Fund to Norway and announced an increase in the Norwegian Government's donation to the Fund.
Conference re-affirmed the continuing need for the Fund's work under all three clauses of its aims and objects, noting with pleasure that a number of governments had given donations for the first time, including that of Belgium. In the report on the Fund's information work under Clause 3 (which includes the publication of FOCUS) attention was drawn to the growing number of titles in languages other than English, in response to the increasing international demand for information on Southern Africa. Particular interest was expressed in the visual side of the information work, which comprises several photo exhibitions together with a picture and film library.
Details of both translations and visual resources are available from the Publications Department, 104 Newgate Street, London EC1 7AP.
