Jakob Kellenberger was born in 1944 and holds a PH.D. from the University of Zurich. He entered the Swiss diplomatic service in 1974 and held various posts in the Swiss embassies in Madrid, Brussels (European Communities) and London. From 1984 to 1992 he headed the Integration Office (in charge of relations with the European Communities and the European Free Trade Association) in Bern, as Minister from 1984 and as Ambassador from 1988. From 1992 to 1999 he was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Political Director, in which capacity he also acted as coordinator and chief negotiator for the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the European Union (1994 to 1998). He has been president of the ICRC since 2000. Jakob Kellenberger also holds a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Basel and Catania.

Mr Kellenberger is married to Elisabeth Kellenberger-Jossi. The couple have two children.

Christine Beerli was born in 1953. A member of a law firm in Biel, Ms Beerli began her political career on that city's municipal council, where she served from 1980 to 1983. From 1986 to 1991 she was a member of the legislative assembly of the Canton of Bern. In 1991 she was elected to the upper house of the Swiss parliament, where she remained until 2003, chairing the foreign affairs committee (1998-99) and the committee for social security and health (2000-01). Ms Beerli chaired the caucus of the Free Democratic Party in Switzerland's federal assembly from 1996 to 2003. She also served on committees dealing with security policy and economic and legal affairs. She retired from politics in 2003. Since 1 January 2006 she has headed Swissmedic, the Swiss supervisory authority for therapeutic products. She is former director of the School of Engineering and Information Technology at Bern University of Applied Sciences.



Olivier Vodoz was born in 1943; is a barrister and a member of the board of directors of the Union Bancaire Privée, a private investment bank in Geneva. He is also on the board of directors of the Swiss insurance company Helvetia Patria and Geneva's Heritage Bank & Trust. He is a senior member of the foundation for the theology faculty at the University of Geneva and is active in various other cultural and humanitarian foundations.

Mr Vodoz became a member of the ICRC in 1998. He serves on the International Committee's Audit Committee and its Recruitment Commission. He also heads the Empress Shôken Fund. Since 1 January 2006 he has been serving as ICRC vice-president, a task he shoulders in addition to his professional activities.

Mr Vodoz is a past president of the Geneva Liberal Party. From 1977 to 1989 he was a member of Geneva's cantonal Parliament and from 1989 to 1997 a member of the cantonal State Council. He has also been a member of the council supervising the practice of psychiatry and has headed the commission supervising the conduct of the Geneva police force.

Mr Vodoz is married to Martine Vodoz-Joris. They have two children.

Paolo Bernasconi was born in 1943 in Lugano, Switzerland. In 1969 he joined the public prosecutor's office in Lugano, which he headed from 1971 to 1986. Since then he has been a practising barrister in Lugano and a partner in the law firm Peter Bernasconi & Partners in Lugano. He has been a professor at the University of Zurich since 1986, at the Centro di Studi Bancari in Lugano since 1990, at Bocconi University in Milan since 1996, at the University of St Gallen since 1999 and at the University of Como since 2003. From 1987 to 1989 he was also a visiting professor at the University of Genoa.

Mr Bernasconi has served as a consultant to the UN Committee on Crime Prevention and Control (1990,1992), the Council of Europe (1982, 1995, 1999), the OECD (1996) and the European Commission (2001). He is a member of several federal consultative committees for the revision of Swiss laws and in 2001 he was vice-president of the Permanent Consultative Council of the Swiss Federal Authority against Money Laundering. He is co-editor of two criminal law reviews in Switzerland and Italy and a board member of several European associations and institutes concerned with international cooperation in the fight against money laundering and corruption. Since 2006 he is Chairman of the Arbitration Board of the Swiss Association of Asset Managers; since 1996 Member of the Advisory Board of Transparency International.

Mr Bernasconi was elected to the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1986. Since 1994 he has chaired the ICRC Audit Committee, which oversees the mechanisms and processes of the internal control system in cooperation with the external auditing firm.
Jacques Forster was born in 1940 and holds a doctorate in economics. After working in the area of international development cooperation – especially in Latin America – within the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, he was appointed professor at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies in Geneva, which he headed from 1980 to 1992.

Elected a member of the ICRC in 1988, Mr Forster became a member of the Executive Board (now the Assembly Council) in 1992. He was permanent vice-president from 1999 to the end of 2007 ICRC; in which capacity he has paid special attention to the ICRC’s relations with the other components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. He also headed the Steering Committee of the Avenir project (1996-1997).

Mr Forster is married to Simone Forster. The couple have two children.Daniel Thürer was born in 1945. He holds a Chair of International and European Law as well as Public and Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). He received his J.D.-degree (lic.iur.) from Zurich University (1970), his LL.M. from Cambridge University (1974) and his Ph.D. (Dr.iur.) from Zurich University (1974). He was a Research Fellow at the Max-Planck-Institute of Public International Law and Comparative Public Law in Heidelberg from 1976 to 1979 and a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Law School from 1979 to 1981. He was Legal Advisor of a Swiss Cantonal Government from 1981 to 1983 and became Professor at the University of Zurich in 1983. He received an honorary degree in political science from the University of St. Gallen in 2001. Daniel Thürer is also the Swiss Delegate to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe. He is a member of the International Court of Arbitration, a member of the OSCE Court of Arbitration and Conciliation and an alternate member of the Executive Committee of the International Commission of Jurists. He had served as a member of the Constitutional Court of the Principality of Liechtenstein (1989-2000), an expert for the “Total Revision” of the Swiss Constitution and a member of the (internationally composed) “Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland and Second World War”.

Daniel Thürer was a Visiting (Research) Professor at the Harvard Law School and the Stanford School of Law and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Hong Kong University. He is co-founder of the „Europa Institut Zürich“ and member of the boards of editors of the „Revue de droit suisse“, „Revue Suisse de droit international et de droit européen“ et „Archiv des Völkerrechts“.

Daniel Thürer has published widely in the fields of international, European and public law. He is married and father of two daughters.
André von Moos was born in 1949, he studied economy in St. Gallen and helds a doctorate in law. After a career as manager and CEO he decided to become an entrepreneur. Since 1997 he created several companies in different business areas. Besides he serves as an outside director in the Board in a number of companies and as a member of the Stiftungsrat FER since he has been appointed in 2001. André von Moos has published quite a few articles about good governance, two books were published about Good governance of family owned businesses, one in 2003, the other in 2006.

Since 1. January 1997 Andre von Moos has been serving as member of the ICRC; Elected a member of the Audit Committee in 2000, he is part of the audit committee and since 2003 he has been serving as member of the "Fondation pour le CICR".

Mr. von Moos is married to Corina von Moos-Frey. They have three children.
Gabrielle Nanchen, who was born in 1943, is a social science graduate and graduate welfare officer. As one of the first ten women to be elected to the Swiss National Council, she represented the canton of Valais from 1971 to 1979. After bringing her political career to a premature end in order to devote herself to raising her children, she undertook several missions in the social sphere and in the fields of gender equality and international solidarity. These included the offices of Vice-Chair of the Federal Commission on Women’s Issues, Swiss development cooperation delegate to the Council of Europe, and member of the Executive Council of the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre) in Lisbon. She also held office as a member of the Foundation Council of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies in Geneva and as President of the Swissaid Foundation. Gabrielle Nanchen subsequently devoted her efforts to sustainable development in the canton of Valais, first in the context of Sion’s candidacy to host the 2006 Winter Olympics and then as President of the Foundation for the Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions.

She is the author of two books on women’s issues.

Gabrielle Nanchen joined the ICRC in 1998; she is a member of the Recruitment Commission and of the Nightingale Medal Committee.

She is married to Maurice Nanchen. They have three children.
Jean de Courten, of Monthey in the canton of Valais, was born in 1940. He holds degrees in law and arts from the Universities of Fribourg and Geneva and was a teacher from 1967 to 1971. He joined the ICRC as a delegate in 1972. In 1975 he was appointed regional delegate for the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Iraq and North Africa, and from 1979 to 1989 he served as delegate general for Asia and the Pacific. Mr de Courten held the post of director of operations from 1989 to 30 April 1998. He has been a member of the ICRC Assembly since July 1998 and a member of the Assembly Council since January 2002.

Mr de Courten was chairman of the board of the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled from 2001 to the end of 2007. He is also a member of the Fondation Hirondelle (Media for Peace and Human Dignity).
Yves Sandoz was born in 1944 and holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Neuchâtel. He is married and the father of three children.

From 1968 to 1973, he carried out various assignments for the ICRC, among other places in Nigeria, Israel and the occupied territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Bangladesh and South Yemen. He also wrote his doctoral thesis and was in charge of editing a new edition of a commentary on the Swiss penal code.

Mr Sandoz joined the ICRC in 1975 as a member of the Legal Division and remained with the organization until 2000, serving for 18 years as Director for International Law and Policy. During this period he was also active in the academic world, giving courses in various universities and institutions of higher learning, conducting seminars and authoring numerous publications.

After leaving the ICRC, Mr Sandoz conceived the idea of setting up the University Centre for International Humanitarian Law in Geneva and served on the Centre's provisional board of directors once it came into being. Since 2002 he has given the general course on humanitarian law for the Master's programme offered by the Centre and a one-semester course on the same subject at the University of Fribourg. He also holds a three-day seminar at the College of Europe, in Bruges, and works with many other universities and institutions of higher learning. He frequently takes part in seminars and meetings of experts in the fields of general international law, international criminal law and especially international humanitarian law.

Yves Sandoz was elected to the Committee in October 2002 and sits on its Audit Committee. He is also a member of the International Institute of Human Rights, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and many international law associations. He has published widely, mainly in the field of international humanitarian law.
Claude Le Coultre, Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, Previous Vice-Dean of the Faculty and Chair of the Faculty Committee on Cooperation with the Countries of the South and East. She has been the Geneva University Hospital delegate for humanitarian affairs from 2004 to 2007.

Claude Le Coultre has been working in the Geneva University Hospitals since 1978 and has been practising as a paediatric surgeon since 1979. She was in charge of the Paediatric Surgery Department of the Geneva Children’s Hospital from 1991 to 2004.

She has been a member of the Foundation Council of Children Action since 1994, devoting part of her time there to surgery and development projects in Asian countries.
In 2004 she was elected to chair the PIAH (Interdisciplinary Programme in Humanitarian Action), a post-graduate programme offered by the University of Geneva, until 2007.

Claude Le Coultre has been a member of the ICRC since 2004; she currently serves on the Audit Committee. Since January 2008, she chairs the board of the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled.
Paola Ghillani was born in 1963. A pharmacist by profession. She began her career with Ciba/Novartis in the pharmaceutical industry. After spending several years in multinational management, she became CEO of the Max Havelaar Foundation - a Fair Trade organization - in 1999. During the same period, she was appointed member of the Board of FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations) International and was elected President and Chairwoman of the FLO Board from 2001 to 2004. Paola Ghillani has been a Member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since 2005. She also serves on the boards of various organizations including several ethical investment funds.

Paola Ghillani founded her own company, Paola Ghillani & Friends Ltd., on 1 September 2005, an organization active in corporate strategies and management consulting and in promoting and implementing sustainable development and ethics in business. More than a company, it is a philosophy, its vision being: For a better world through the economy.

Paola Ghillani graduated with a degree in pharmacy from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and completed her business training with a master’s degree in International General Management from the IMD Business School in Lausanne, where she also took the International Program for Board Management. In addition to her many achievements, Ms. Ghillani was selected as Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2000.
Jenö C.A. Staehelin, 1940, is an attorney and holds a doctorate in law from the University of Bern and a LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He started his diplomatic career in the legal department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1978-1984 he was Vice-President of the European Patent Office in Munich. Back in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was Deputy Director for International Organizations (1984-1987) and from 1987-1993 Head of the European and North American Affairs Department as well as, concurrently, Ambassador to the Holy See (1991-1993). He was appointed Ambassador to Japan in 1993. Between 1997 and 2004 he represented Switzerland at the United Nations in New York, first as Permanent Observer and later, when Switzerland joined the UN as its first Permanent Representative. In 2003 he was elected President of the Executive Board of UNICEF. Mr. Staehelin is a member of the Board of Schindler Holding Ltd. As well as of various foundations promoting the study and research in international law and international relations. He was elected a member of the ICRC in 2006.

Mr. Staehelin is married to Irène Staehelin-Schindler, an anthropologist.
Christiane Augsburger was born in 1943. She is a graduate of the French Red Cross nursing school in Colmar. After serving as a home-care teacher and teacher-trainer for the Geneva branch of the Swiss Red Cross, she taught at Le Bon Secours nursing school in Geneva for 14 years while sitting on numerous Swiss Red Cross commissions. From 1988 to 2006, she was director of La Source, the Swiss Red Cross nursing school in Lausanne. She is currently a member of the national ethics commission and an expert member of the health and social affairs commission of the Leenaards Foundation in Lausanne.
Anne de Boccard was born in 1955. She graduated in political science (international relations) and began her career with the Crédit Suisse in Geneva in 1980. After further training and practical placements in the United States she returned to the Crédit Suisse (Geneva) in 1986, where she was a member of management, relationship manager, and then team leader. She set up her own company (Citadel Finance SA) in Geneva in 1999. She is also a Member of the Board of JP Morgan (Switzerland) Ltd.


Bernard G.R. Daniel was born in 1944. After graduating in law from the University of Geneva, he continued his training at the IMD in Lausanne (Executive Development Programme and International Seminar for Board Members.

Mr Daniel joined the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1967 during the Arab-Israeli conflict known as the "Six-Day War". From 1967 to 1972 he carried out several missions in the Middle East (in Yemen, Iraq and Iran) as well as in South-East Asia (in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Viet Nam and Cambodia) and Bangladesh. He opened the first ICRC regional delegation in South-East Asia in Malaysia.

Returning to Switzerland in 1973, Mr Daniel joined the Nestlé Group, where he served as Secretary to the Board of Directors and Secretary-General from 1987 to 2007. During that time he was also a member of the International Security Management Association (US) and took part in the proceedings of the working group of the European Round Table of Industrialists (Brussels). Mr Daniel also contributes to the deliberations of the Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels) in the corporate governance field and is a member of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN, London).

Deeply involved in the economic, social, cultural and political life of his environment, Mr Daniel serves on several foundation councils and executive boards of public and private institutions. He is furthermore a founding member of the "RODEO" (Rotary Demining Operation) Foundation. He became a member of the ICRC in April 2009.

Mr Daniel is married to Brenda Daniel-Croucher. They have two sons.


Rolf Soiron was born near Frankfurt in 1945. He holds a doctorate in history and a PMD from Harvard Business School and specialised in business management. In the course of his international career he has held various business management positions in, for example, human resources management, financial administration, operational management and strategic planning. He has worked in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry as well as in medical engineering, construction and finance. His career has taken him to positions of responsibility at the highest corporate executive levels and has allowed him to gain extensive experience of corporate governance as the chairman of the management boards of Holcim, Lonza and Nobel Biocare.

Alongside his career in the private sector, Mr Soiron has played an active role in public life as a member of the Riehen Communal Council and the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-City. He also spent 10 years as President of the Basel University Council. He is the current President of Avenir Suisse.

He was elected as a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2009.

Mr Soiron lives in Basel. He is married to Alicia Soiron-Lüthi and has two children and six grandchildren.




See also ICRC decision-making structures