Ambassador Peter Maurer is in his fifth and last year in service to the United Nations before assuming his new position as Swiss Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs in spring 2010. He will present a "state of the union" address concerning the challenges to the United Nations including: climate change, peace-keeping and peace-building, terrorism, and human rights. His discussion will conclude with a Q&A and Swiss-style reception. Peter Maurer, who is currently Switzerland's ambassador to the United Nations in New York, has been named the country's new secretary of state in the Foreign Affairs Office. Maurer has been in the Swiss diplomatic service since 1987. Since 1996, he has been part of the New York UN mission. He holds a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Bern.