Pierre Krähenbühl becomes new ICRC Director General
Published: Friday, Dec 22nd 2023, 11:41
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Pierre Krähenbühl is to become the new Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Geneva native will succeed Robert Mardini at the beginning of April next year.
The ICRC Assembly has appointed Krähenbühl, as the organization announced on its website on Friday. The 57-year-old political scientist has worked in the humanitarian sector for 30 years, including 25 years with the ICRC.
In 2019, he resigned as Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees. This was in connection with allegations of mismanagement and abuse of power that had been raised. Krähenbühl himself had always denied these allegations.
The ICRC is currently experiencing financial difficulties and has announced that it will cut 4,000 jobs this year and next. This means that around 18,500 people worldwide will still be working for the Geneva-based organization. The ICRC's budget for 2024 is around CHF 2.1 billion, 13% less than in the current year.
The ICRC's activities are mainly financed by a small number of Western countries. Efforts to bring new donors on board, such as wealthy emerging countries, private companies and rich individuals, are being intensified, but have had little success so far.
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