The Directorate is the ICRC’s executive body, responsible for implementing and overseeing the institutional strategy and general objectives defined by the Assembly and the Assembly Council. It also manages ICRC staff and oversees the organization’s overall functioning. Directorate members are appointed by the ICRC Assembly for four-year terms.
Pierre Krähenbühl is Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a position he assumed in April 2024. As head of the ICRC's executive body, he is responsible for steering the organisation's global humanitarian activities and its 18,000 staff in more than 100 countries, with a yearly budget of over USD 2.1 billion.
Mr Krähenbühl has dedicated more than 30 years to the humanitarian sector, including 25 years in prominent roles at the ICRC in delegations and at headquarters. His previous leadership appointments at the ICRC include director of operations (2002-2014) and personal adviser to the President of the ICRC (2000-2002). Mr Krähenbühl also carried out various operational assignments in El Salvador, Peru, Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991-1998); and as head of operations for Central and South-Eastern Europe, based in Geneva (1998-2000).
Immediately prior to holding the Director-General position, Mr Krähenbühl was secretary-general to the Assembly at the ICRC (2023-2024). He served as the personal envoy of the ICRC President to China and head of regional delegation for East Asia (2021-2023). In 2014 he was appointed as commissioner-general and under-secretary general of the United Nations at UNRWA (2014-2019).
He holds an MA in political science and international relations from the University of Geneva and Graduate Institute of International Relations.
Yasmine Praz Dessimoz is the Director of Operations for the ICRC as of 1 September 2024. She joined the ICRC in 1997 and has since held multiple roles in challenging and conflict-affected regions.
Yasmine’s career with the ICRC has seen assignments in Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Sudan. From 2008, Yasmine served as the Deputy Head of Operations for the West and Central Africa region and was later appointed as the Political Adviser to the Director of Operations. Between 2012 and 2016, Yasmine was the Regional Director for North and West Africa.
Her responsibilities in these roles included context analysis, strategy shaping and action definition, priority setting, security and human resources management, and ICRC representation towards various stakeholders.
Following this, she became the Director of Social Welfare at the Hospice Général in Geneva, overseeing a staff of 800 and supporting over 25,000 welfare recipients. Yasmine holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economic Science and an Executive Master’s in International Negotiation and Policy Making from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.
Marc Rivers joined the ICRC on 1 April 2024 with an outstanding record of senior-level leadership, financial management, risk and compliance. With more than 30 years of experience, he has worked in various complex industries, notably as CFO of Fonterra Co-operative Group and as Divisional CFO at Roche Pharmaceuticals, and including appointments in China, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand, and the USA. Prior to commencing at ICRC Marc served as President and Chief Financial Officer of Bridgewest Perth Pharma and chaired the Finance and Audit committee of Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), New Zealand's national health system.
Marc earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and a Masters of International Business from the University of South Carolina, USA. He is married and has three adult sons.
Dr Cordula Droege is Director of International Law, Movement and Partnerships at the International Committee of the Red Cross.
She leads the ICRC’s mission to uphold, disseminate and develop international humanitarian law and humanitarian disarmament, the institution’s cooperation with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and partnerships with other key stakeholders. She is also responsible for steering the ICRC’s policy work and engagement and for directing its archives.
She has held various positions in the field and at headquarters, among others as head of the legal division and chief legal officer, chief of staff to the President, head of legal advisers to operations. Before joining the ICRC in 2005, she worked in the field of international law and human rights at the International Commission of Jurists, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Max Planck Institute for International Law.
She holds a phD and law degree from the University of Heidelberg and an LL.M from the London School of Economics.
Valérie Abrell Duong is a game-changing and visionary leader in IT and digital transformation with extensive international experience in the humanitarian field as well as health care, retail and consumer goods. She started at Procter & Gamble in software development and then focused on new business models and pioneering e-commerce and digital marketing for global brands such as Pampers, Gillette, SK-II and Ariel.
In 2009, she took a broadening assignment at HP as a disruptive innovation consultant to large accounts. In 2010, she returned to Procter & Gamble as the head of IT and digital for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and built digital scale to competitive advantage. In 2016, Ms Abrell Duong joined Sanofi as the IT vice-president for digital and innovation, as well as chief investment officer for diabetes and cardiovascular. She promoted new ways of working, injecting an entrepreneurial spirit to advance technology and data-driven innovations such as multichannel marketing services, patient-support programmes and digital therapeutics. Since 2021, she has served as an adviser and business angel for start-ups in health care, tech and sustainability.
Ms Abrell Duong joined the ICRC in April 2022 and joined the Directorate in July 2022 of as director of support and digital transformation. She has a M.Sc. in electrical engineering and computer science from CentraleSupélec. She strives to create a collaborative and stimulating environment in which people are free to express their creativity, be bold and make an impact.
