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general research and finance. This has served to streamline the IEC's process of decision-making.
No review of the year on behalf of the IEC can be complete without paying tribute to the man who was Chairman of the IEC from its inception until Sept- ember 1974: Sean MacBride. Having been appointed United Nations Commiss- ioner for Namibia, Sean MacBride was unable to continue as IEC Chairman. Without his unrelenting efforts on behalf of the organization and its aims, Amnesty International could never have achieved its present position and repu- tation. His lifelong work for human rights was justly recognized when he received the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize. We look forward to welcoming Sean MacBride to the 1975 International Council in St Gallen, Switzerland, where he is to deliver the first of the major addresses on human rights that Amnesty International has named in his honour.