Module 4 Session 2 Materials
Mrs. Claudine Haenni
Director, Bridging-Changes
After graduating from the University of Geneva with a law degree, Claudine Haenni worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (1986-1995), was Secretary General of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (1995-2001), where she spearheaded the drafting of the Optional Protocol for the Prevention of Torture. She then joined the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs as a policy advisor for human rights, humanitarian affairs, and peace support (2001-2005). From 2005 to 2007, she was posted to the UN headquarters in New York as an Advisor to the Representative of the Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, based in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. During that period, she accompanied the RSG on several missions and was instrumental in the drafting of the Guidelines for Protection of Persons Affected by Natural Disasters and the Framework for Durable Solutions of IDPs. Later, she worked as an independent consultant based in Geneva, focusing on protection for a range of UN agencies, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In 2011, she was sent to South-East Asia by the Humanitarian Aid Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to work as a Humanitarian Facilitator based in the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangkok until 2012.
