Balthasar Staehelin joined the ICRC in 1993 where he served in the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans and in the ICRC Headquarters in Geneva. As Delegate-General for the Middle East and North Africa from 2002-2006, he has overseen the ICRC activities in the region, including operations in Iraq during the Second Gulf War, before serving as the Deputy Director of Operations for Policy and Global Affairs from 2006-2008. In 2008, he joined the local government in Geneva where he ran the department in charge of providing social welfare, housing, health and integration programs for refugees and asylum-seekers. In August 2012, he returned to the ICRC serving as the Deputy Director-General where he supervised the ICRC’s cooperation and coordination with the Red Cross Movement, as well as the organization’s Global Compliance Office.
Mr. Staehelin holds a Master’s Degree in History, English Literature and Constitutional Law from the University of Basel, Switzerland