Foundation Prize
Laureate 2022
Peter Maurer
Prize 2022 awarded to Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Monday 21 March 2022 | 6:30pm, Victoria Hall, Geneva
The Fondation pour Genève has awarded its 2022 Prize to Mr Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for his exceptional contribution to Geneva’s standing.
Over the course of his 10-year presidency, Mr Maurer has worked with strength and conviction for the respect of international humanitarian law. Along with his teams, he has provided crucial assistance to millions of victims of armed conflict or other situations of violence. He has also internationalized the organization and increased and diversified its funding, so as to strengthen its presence in protracted crisis situations. Today, the ICRC is active in nearly 100 countries and has 18,000 staff members worldwide. The institution has been contributing to our city’s renown for more than 150 years, and perfectly embodies its humanitarian tradition.
Throughout the evening, several personalities took the floor to pay tribute to Peter Maurer and the ICRC’s work. Bertrand Piccard, President of the Solar Impulse Foundation, spoke with the laureate on the subject of “Conflicts and climate crisis: humanitarian action in the face of 21st-century challenges”. Ambassador Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and to the other International Organizations in Geneva, spoke on behalf of the federal, cantonal and municipal authorities.
This 28th edition of the Prize was broadcast online on the Fondation’s website, on www.letemps.ch and www.lemanbleu.ch, as well as on the television channel Léman Bleu.
Born in 1956 in Thun, Mr Peter Maurer studied history and international law at the University of Bern. Since entering the Swiss diplomatic service in 1987, he has held numerous positions, notably in Bern, Pretoria and New York, and in 2004, he was appointed Ambassador of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. In 2010, he was appointed State Secretary for Foreign Affairs by the Swiss Federal Council, and in 2012, he was named President of the ICRC, a position he will vacate in September 2022. He will be succeeded by Swiss diplomat Mrs Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, who will become the first woman to head the institution.
