Peter Maurer: War in Ukraine ‘leaves me a bitter taste’

“A few years ago, you were asked to sum up in one word the action of the ICRC. You said: it is hope. Dear Peter, this hope is the one you offer but also the one you carry”. Faced with these words from Ambassador Juerg Lauber, Peter Maurer had a lump in his throat. Monday evening at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, in front of 900 people, the President of the ICRC saw the action of his delegates hailed during a ceremony led by the President of the Solar Impulse Foundation Bertrand Piccard. The former diplomat was awarded the Prix de la Fondation pour Genève which, since 1976, has honored the men and women who have promoted the City of Calvin throughout the world. In 2020, the press cartoonist Patrick Chapatte was rewarded, following the director of the Institute of Advanced International Studies and Development (IHEID) Philippe Burrin in 2019.