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" Very often, development agencies or even some of the humanitarian actors choose the... more comfortable type of work, where it is safe, while the more important work has to be done where it is profoundly unsafe. "

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" It's one thing if a politician in a small country says a little bit of torturing is good to do. There is a qualitative difference... when it's a candidate to run a superpower. "

Peter Maurer

Good

Country

Small

" To respond to people's needs, humanitarian action has evolved from a temporary fix to a long-term safety net. "

" New technologies are rapidly giving rise to unprecedented methods of warfare. Innovations that yesterday were science fiction could cause catastrophe tomorrow, including nanotechnologies, combat robots, and laser weapons. "

" The Fourth Industrial Revolution does not just entail risks: it also brings solutions to humanitarian problems. "

" 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. "

" Ensuring the respect of international humanitarian law and principles is one of the key areas necessary to establish accountability chains. "

" 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. "

" The discourse of sovereignty is a relative one when a crisis has become a global crisis. "

" What the hell is happening to the world when those who were at the origin of... international humanitarian law start questioning in public debates whether it has any relevance or should be respected? "

" Torture and other forms of cruel or humiliating treatment are an affront to humanity, and the physical and psychological scars can last a lifetime. "

" 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

Moving

Consequences

" 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.' "

" Humanitarian assistance, once conceived as a short-term relief effort, is increasingly the only substitute for long-term development work in protracted armed conflicts. "

" The humanitarian ecosystem is diverse - not only is there a variety of traditional humanitarian actors, but the system should also embrace an increasing diversity of private sector actors. "

" As conflicts last longer, as the scale of needs increase, we are having to adapt. There is an increasing blurring between immediate humanitarian assistance and long-term development needs. "

" The principal cause of suffering during humanitarian crises is insufficient respect of applicable rules of international humanitarian law. "

" Each day that passes without kids being able to go to school is an enormous burden on the future. "

Peter Maurer

School

Without

" There is great potential for investments that are built around improving social, environmental, and economic conditions. "

" The abuse of civilians and combatants has existed since the dawn of time. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" As responsible politicians, you have to manage migration. "

" You don't torture people. You don't indiscriminately attack civilians. You protect as good as you can the impact of your warfare on women and children. "

" There is a clear business case for building the resilience and capacity of local communities, businesses, and institutions because a peaceful, educated, and productive population will stimulate economic growth in the long term. "

" We demonize our enemies at our own peril. "

" You treat detainees humanely because you know the other side will also treat detainees humanely. "

" Every year, we ask our donors to dig deeper. And every year, they gladly, generously comply. It is now up to us to find ways and means to forestall the day when they cannot - or will not. Or the consequences for people in war zones could be disastrous. "

Peter Maurer

Consequences

Day

" Suffering does not change its face. "

" Although the ICRC and the World Economic Forum have separate missions, they both are centred on collaboration across sectors and between various actors in order to improve the state of the world. "