Carla Del Ponte, the long-time Chief Prosecutor for the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, is to receive the 2010 Theodore Wanner Award from the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) on Friday (1 October). The award honours Del Ponte, who is currently the Swiss Ambassador in Buenos Aires, for her outstanding commitment to promoting international understanding.

Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is the patron of the Theodor Wanner Award. Cornelia Pieper, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, will offer the welcome address. Jutta Limbach, the former President of the Federal Constitutional Court and the Goethe-Institut, will deliver the laudatory speech.

The award carries an endowment of EUR 5000, which will benefit the Fondazione Falcone. Giovanni Falcone was an Italian investigating judge who was killed in a 1992 bomb attack. The Fondazione Falcone, a foundation named in his honour, now carries on his dedication to fighting organized crime and mafia-style structures.

Since 2009 the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations has been bestowing the Theodor Wanner Award upon individuals who have made outstanding contributions to intercultural dialogue through their academic, social, political, artistic or entrepreneurial achievements. The award is named after the founder of the Deutsches Auslands-Institut, the predecessor to the current Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations.