ICRC president Peter Maurer in Syria (7930973296)

Peter Maurer (born 1956) is a Swiss diplomat who was the President of the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

(ICRC) from 1 July 2012 until October 2022 and is currently President of the

Basel Institute on Governance The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent, international non-profit organisation dedicated to preventing and combating corruption and other financial crimes and to strengthening governance around the world. The organisation was establish ...

. Maurer was born in

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thou ...

, Switzerland.

Education

Maurer studied

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

International Law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

in Bern, and was awarded a PhD.

Career

In 1987, Maurer entered the Swiss Diplomatic Service (

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, french: Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, it, Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rm, ), so name ...

), where he held various positions in Bern and

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, South Africa, before being transferred to New York in 1996 as Deputy Permanent Observer at the Swiss Mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. In 2000, he was appointed Ambassador and head of the division in charge of human security at the headquarters of Switzerland's Foreign Ministry in Berne. In 2004, Maurer was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. In this position, he endeavoured to integrate Switzerland, which had only recently joined the United Nations, into multilateral networks. In June 2009, the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

elected Maurer Chairman of the Fifth Committee, in charge of United Nations administrative and budgetary affairs. In addition, he was elected Chairman of the Burundi Configuration of the

UN Peacebuilding Commission The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a United Nations intergovernmental advisory body of both the General Assembly and the Security Council that supports peace efforts in conflict affected countries. A key addition to the capacity ...

. In January 2010, Maurer became Switzerland's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, a position he held until he was elected President of the ICRC, succeeding

Jakob Kellenberger Jakob Kellenberger (born 19 October 1944 in Heiden, Switzerland) is a former Swiss diplomat and former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Since 2013 he has been the president of swisspeace. Biography Jakob Kelle ...

in June 2012. Maurer led the ICRC through a historic budget increase, from 1.1 billion CHF in 2011 to over 1.6 billion CHF in 2015. In addition, he launched the world’s first "humanitarian impact bond" scheme, in which private investors lend €22 million of five-year funding and their repayments depend on what difference the project makes to its clients’ lives. Since 2019, Maurer has been co-chairing the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

High-Level Group on Humanitarian Investing, alongside Børge Brende and

Kristalina Georgieva Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova ( bg, Кристалина Иванова Георгиева-Кинова; ; born 13 August 1953) is a Bulgarian economist serving as managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019. She was t ...

. In September 2019, he was re-elected as the president of the ICRC for an additional term of 4 years, until October 2022, when he was succeeded by

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is a Swiss diplomat. Since October 2022, she has served as the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Life and work Egger studied philosophy, economics and international law at the University of Basel ...

Other activities

International Gender Champions International Gender Champions (IGC) is a network of female and male leaders of member states, international organizations, and civil society working for gender equality. It is an initiative of Women@TheTable, and was founded in 2015 by Caitlin Kr ...

(IGC), Member (since 2017) *

(WEF), Member of the Board (since 2014) *

(WEF), Co-Chair of the Global Future Council on the Future of the Humanitarian System *

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...

(IISS), Member of the Advisory Council

Recognition

* 2014 – Honorary doctorate,

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

* 2018 – Honorary doctorate,

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

Honorary Doctorate Conferred on Dr. Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross

, press release of 7 December 2018.

References

* UN, 15 September 2009
PETER MAURER OF SWITZERLAND CHAIR OF FIFTH COMMITTEE
* ICRC, 19 October 2011

* ICRC, 7 September 2012

* WEF, 3 November 2014
Peter Maurer Joins Foundation Board, World Economic Forum

External links

The president of the ICRC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maurer, Peter 1956 births Living people Red Cross personnel People from Thun Swiss diplomats Permanent Representatives of Switzerland to the United Nations