New Head of Delegation of International Committee of the Red Cross Presents Appointment Letter

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation to the United Nations, Philip Spoerri, presented his letter of appointment to UN Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon today.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Spoerri served as the Director for International Law and Cooperation at the ICRC beginning in 2006, during which he was also a member of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Spoerri was head of the ICRC delegation in Afghanistan.  In the course of his tenure with the organization, which began in 1994 with a mission in Israel and the Occupied Territory, he had assignments in Kuwait and Yemen and served as Protection Coordinator in Afghanistan in 1998.  From 1999 to 2000, he headed up the delegation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Before joining the organization, he worked as a criminal defence lawyer in Munich.

Mr. Spoerri holds a doctorate in law from Bielefeld University, Germany.  He also studied at the Universities of Gottingen, Germany; Geneva and Munich.