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The sad fact is that horrendous human conflict is nothing new.
Peter Maurer -
Each day that passes without kids being able to go to school is an enormous burden on the future.
Peter Maurer
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We must understand the factors that cause fragility, violence, and conflict in order to develop solutions that will meaningfully reduce instability at its roots rather than merely addressing the symptoms.
Peter Maurer -
Torture and other forms of cruel or humiliating treatment are an affront to humanity, and the physical and psychological scars can last a lifetime.
Peter Maurer -
Until the last nuclear weapon is eliminated, more must also be done to reduce the risk of a detonation. Nuclear-armed states should reduce the number of warheads on high alert and be clearer about the actions they are taking to prevent accidents.
Peter Maurer -
It has always been clear that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.
Peter Maurer -
Fragility, violence, and conflict are complex. Fragility is influenced by a wide set of factors, many of which are deeply entrenched, such as high social and income inequality. The lines between criminal, inter-communal, and politically motivated violence are often blurred.
Peter Maurer -
Even in war, everyone deserves to be treated humanely.
Peter Maurer
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If private-sector capital can be harnessed for social good, the potential to scale humanitarian solutions is vast.
Peter Maurer -
The ICRC did not see Nazi Germany for what it was. Instead, the organization maintained the illusion that the Third Reich was a 'regular partner,' a state that occasionally violates laws, not unlike any army during World War II, occasionally using illegal means and methods of warfare.
Peter Maurer -
The issue of corruption in the humanitarian system is not an issue which is fundamentally different from dangers of corruption in other areas. One of the best ways to strengthen accountability is to engage in principled and law-based humanitarian action.
Peter Maurer -
Economic activity can help repair war-torn societies, but if it's not conducted responsibly, it can also create or prolong violence. Companies and international organisations must help strengthen communities and overcome the trauma of violence.
Peter Maurer -
We cannot guarantee that a humanitarian catastrophe of the extent of the Holocaust will not happen again. On the contrary, we witness a catalogue of atrocities every day in wars across the globe.
Peter Maurer -
Every day, we hear of civilians being killed and wounded in violation of the basic rules of international humanitarian law and with total impunity. Instability is spreading. Suffering is growing. No country can remain untouched.
Peter Maurer
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The relatively unpredictable flow of funds to humanitarian organizations, and the bureaucratic strings often attached to them, can have a highly negative impact on an organization's ability to plan and execute programmes effectively. We need to be able to rely on predictable income flows to plan sustainable programmes.
Peter Maurer -
The young, the old, women, the disabled, the sick and the wounded are entitled to protection under international law. Too often, the ICRC's calls for those laws to be respected are ignored.
Peter Maurer -
While the nature of warfare is changing and wars are moving into cities, they are also becoming longer and their consequences more impactful.
Peter Maurer -
Where you are born, your parent's beliefs, or your ethnic background should not make you a target.
Peter Maurer -
We see a transformation of warfare from the big armies and battlefields in open spaces to a fragmentation of armed groups and smaller armies, which move into city centres, which increasingly become the theatre of warfare.
Peter Maurer -
We believe that settlement expansion policies pursued in recent decades by successive Israeli governments have facilitated the process of de-facto annexation. It has complicated the dialogue between the different communities.
Peter Maurer
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Suffering does not change its face.
Peter Maurer -
There is great potential for investments that are built around improving social, environmental, and economic conditions.
Peter Maurer -
Conflicts are increasingly causing devastation in densely populated urban centres rather than open battlefields, creating a host of new problems through the cumulative impact from the destruction of vital services like water and electricity.
Peter Maurer -
The whole essence of humanitarian work and the Geneva Convention is that neutral, impartial organisations can operate during war.
Peter Maurer