Reto Neuenschwander was born on 27 March 1957 in Aarau, north-central Switzerland. He completed his secondary studies in Oberägeri, in 1977, and enrolled immediately in medical school at the University of Basel. After four semesters, he switched to the university’s school of humanities and law, receiving his degree in humanities in 1989. Soon after graduating, Reto served for nearly two years, until September 1991, in the Swiss army as part of the Swiss delegation to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea.
When he applied to the ICRC in January 1992, at the age of 35, Reto had clear professional interests: international politics, conflict resolution in crisis situations, diplomacy and negotiations. He was keen to gain on-the-ground experience in the humanitarian realm.
For his first assignment, Reto was sent for three months to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a general delegate, starting in July 1992. He followed that up with an eight-month stint in Somalia – first in northern Mogadishu and then in Kismayo – until June 1993. Despite his limited experience, Reto was given significant responsibility: he coordinated relief activities, organized the distribution of goods and negotiated with various local partners. For his third assignment, Reto went to Zenica, in the former Yugoslavia, in August 1993. There he grappled with resupply problems and a volatile security situation at a time when the ICRC was making changes to its relief operations. Reto’s next posting also proved to be particularly challenging: he spent a year in Kabul, Afghanistan, again as a relief coordinator, beginning in August 1994.
In October 1995, Reto continued his relief work, this time in Burundi, where the ICRC was one of the few humanitarian organizations still able to operate relatively effectively. Reto worked in northern Cibitoke, a hard-hit region where the delegation was providing water, medical supplies and other aid. This was Reto’s last posting. On 4 June 1996, he and two colleagues – Cédric Martin and Juan Ruffino – were killed in a deadly ambush while returning to Bujumbura in a clearly-marked ICRC vehicle. They had been repairing the water supply in a refugee camp near Mugina. Reto was 39 years old.
Generous, warm, hard-working and conscientious to a fault in his work, Reto was always ready to lend a hand to others and to share a laugh in his self-effacing way. He never lost sight of his guiding vision: peaceful coexistence between people and nations.
