Singapore: ICRC president pays first official visit
20-11-2013 News Release
Kuala Lumpur/Geneva (ICRC) – Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), completed his first official visit to Singapore today. Mr Maurer met with senior ministers, including the prime minister, and with officials of the Singapore Red Cross Society.
The president's discussions with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong centred on the humanitarian situation in the region, particularly the thousands of lives disrupted by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and the ICRC’s response. Future challenges, such those presented by the emergence of new technologies of warfare, were also reviewed.
"Singapore has assumed an increasingly important role in humanitarian matters in South-East Asia and beyond," said Mr Maurer. "It is an important ally in addressing the humanitarian challenges of tomorrow."
The cabinet ministers with whom the ICRC president had meetings included K Shanmugam, the minister for foreign affairs and minister for law, and Chan Chun Sing, the minister for social and family development and second minister for defence. Mr Maurer also spoke at a public event organized by the Singapore Red Cross and the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore, where he offered the ICRC’s vision of the evolving humanitarian landscape.
For further information, please contact:
Jacqueline Fernandez, ICRC Kuala Lumpur, tel: +60 12 389 5326
