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President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (2012–2022)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2022
Peter Maurer served as President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 2012 to 2022. During his time as President, Maurer prioritized strengthening humanitarian diplomacy, engaging States and other actors for the respect of international humanitarian law, and improving the humanitarian response through innovation and new partnerships. Meanwhile, he oversaw an historic budget increase and organizational expansion. Prior to his role at the ICRC, Mr Maurer served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Switzerland and headed the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs. Earlier, Mr Maurer held various positions representing Switzerland at the United Nations (UN) in New York, including Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN, Chairman of the UN's Fifth Committee, and member of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Mr Maurer had first joined the Swiss diplomatic service in 1987, through which he held various positions in Bern, Pretoria and New York. Maurer was born in Thun, Switzerland in 1956. He studied history and international law in Bern, where he also earned a doctorate.
This interview was conducted by Bruno Demeyere, Editor-in-Chief of the International Review of the Red Cross, and by Jillian Rafferty, Managing Editor of the International Review of the Red Cross, on 27 September 2022.
1 An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping: Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to the statement adopted by the Summit Meeting of the Security Council on 31 January 1992, UN Doc. A/47/277, 17 June 1992.
2 See United Nations, Millennium Development Goals, available at: www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ (all internet references were accessed in October 2022).
3 See ICRC, “New Global System to Monitor Attacks on Health Care”, 28 May 2018, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/new-global-system-monitor-attacks-health-care; ICRC, “Health-Care Providers, Patients Suffer Thousands Of Attacks on Health-Care Services over the Past Five Years, ICRC Data Show”, 3 May 2021, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/health-care-providers-patients-suffer-thousands-attacks-health-care-services-past-5-years.
4 See ICRC, International Humanitarian Law and the Challenges of Contemporary Armed Conflicts Recommitting to Protection in Armed Conflict on the 70th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, Geneva, 2019, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-report-ihl-and-challenges-contemporary-armed-conflicts report. See “Interview with Eirini Giorgou”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 104, No. 2–3, 2022.
5 Henri Dunant, A Memory of Solferino, Impremerie Jules-Guillaume Fick, Geneva, 1862, available at: www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-0361.pdf.