A biography for Peter Maurerhasn’t been written yet.
“Experience shows that the reliance on illegal, immoral, and inhumane interrogation techniques is universally a very poor choice.”
“While conflicts have expanded and deepened and transformed, actors have transformed, and humanitarian assistance is transforming. Protection work is transforming and taking on another character.”
“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.”
“To respond to people's needs, humanitarian action has evolved from a temporary fix to a long-term safety net.”
“We need to continue to modernise current humanitarian work while at the same time drive a more systemic shift in how we envision the operation and financing of humanitarian solutions.”
“Short-termism is no longer an option. We have to envisage humanitarian action with a medium- and long-term perspective.”
“The creative capacity of the private sector should be harnessed to develop new and more effective ways to deliver humanitarian solutions.”
“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.”
“As responsible politicians, you have to manage migration.”
“Suffering does not change its face.”
“Wars are getting longer, they are more complex, and the humanitarian need is great.”
“You treat detainees humanely because you know the other side will also treat detainees humanely.”
“Torture and other forms of cruel or humiliating treatment are an affront to humanity, and the physical and psychological scars can last a lifetime.”
“It has always been clear that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.”
“Local businesses and communities must be included from the very start in developing solutions to fragility, violence, and conflict.”
“Businesses operating in fragile or conflict-affected environments bear a responsibility to, at the very minimum, do no harm and avoid fuelling conflict or reinforcing fragility.”
“People living through armed conflicts need infrastructure and services which will last, and the last thing on their mind is which budget line applies.”
“Ensuring the respect of international humanitarian law and principles is one of the key areas necessary to establish accountability chains.”
“The mess in the world is a strong driver because, at the end of the day, it's the increasing unacceptability of the divergences and rifts in the world economically, socially, politically, and culturally which lead everybody to say, 'We have to do something.'”
“Torture can destroy the social fabric of communities, degrade a society's institutions, and undermine the integrity of its political systems.”