Peter Maurer

If you back out of a convention... you can't dodge your obligation. Torture is still not acceptable.

Can you really send back people to where they are fleeing from?

Torture can destroy the social fabric of communities, degrade a society's institutions, and undermine the integrity of its political systems.

When millions of kids are missing out on school, delivering educational services becomes an issue that concerns the humanitarian system.

Cities tend to be representations of societies: diversity and inequality find their extremes in urban settings. Yet, when war is added onto pre-existing inequalities, high levels of poverty, or even disaster, urban fragility increases exponentially, making it harder to absorb the shocks of warfare.

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.

Since 1989, public alarm at the prospect of atomic Armageddon has quietened, but the number of nuclear-armed states has increased, arsenals are being modernized, and powerful states remain convinced that a nuclear security umbrella is vital to national defense, domestic prestige, and geopolitical clout.

Even in war, everyone deserves to be treated humanely.

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.

Experience shows that the reliance on illegal, immoral, and inhumane interrogation techniques is universally a very poor choice.

We need to understand that the Geneva Conventions are not just some historical documents born of another time, created for another purpose.

Urbanisation, poverty, youth unemployment are leading to violence-prone cities.