English: The president of the ICRC:

Peter Maurer was born in Thoune, Switzerland, in 1956. He studied history and international law in Berne, where he was awarded a Ph.D. In 1987 he entered the Swiss diplomatic service, where he held various positions in Berne and Pretoria before being transferred to New York in 1996 as deputy permanent observer at the Swiss mission to the United Nations. 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 Mr 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 General Assembly elected Mr Maurer chairman of the Fifth Committee, in charge of UN administrative and budgetary affairs. In addition, he was elected chairman of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. From January 2010 to April 2012, Mr Maurer was Switzerland's secretary of state for foreign affairs.

Mr Maurer is married and is the father of two children.