Rep. n° 13/2023

Geneva, May 2, 2023. Today, in the presence of the Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ambassador Dušan Matulay, the Secretary-General and founder of Servare et Manere, Mr. Marek Sobola, handed over the highest award of Servare et Manere to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger received the Tree of Peace Memorial Plaque on behalf of the ICRC. The award was granted to the organization for exceptional merits and assistance in searching, management and archiving of data on wartime as well as civilian casualties of wartime conflicts. The archive helps families to learn about the identity of their ancestors who fought in war conflicts, but also helps to search for their relatives who had to flee from war unrest or natural disasters. The ICRC’s current activities aimed at humanitarian aid in areas affected by current war and natural disasters also deserve our attention. The award was granted in the year of the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of official relations between the ICRC and the Slovak Republic, as well as on the occasion of the 160^th anniversary of the formation of the ICRC.

By awarding the Tree of Peace Memorial Plaque, Servare et Manere expresses its highest gratitude to eminent personalities, governmental and non-governmental organizations who have contributed immensely to the spread of ideas of understanding and unity among nations. This is the first ever award of the highest honour of Servare et Manere to an international organization. At the end of the meeting, President Spoljaric thanked Servare et Manere and the Slovak Republic for the support of the goals and activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross.