Martin Dahinden appointed new director of SDC
Bern, 02.04.2008 - The Federal Council has appointed Martin DAHINDEN, currently ambassador and head of the Directorate of Management (DM) as head of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Bern, with the title of ambassador. He will take up his post in May 2008 and will succeed ambassador Walter Fust, who retires at the end of April 2008.
Ambassador Martin Dahinden is head of Corporate Management in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. He is responsible for the resources of the Department, the operation of the Swiss representations abroad and consular services.
Martin Dahinden was born in Zurich in 1955. Before taking up his present post he was head of the Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Demining. During his career in the DFA, Martin Dahinden has worked in Geneva (Swiss delegation to GATT), the Paris embassy, as deputy to the ambassador in Lagos, Nigeria, and temporarily at the Swiss Mission to the UN in New York.
At headquarters in Bern he worked in the Service for Disarmament Policy and Nuclear Questions, as head of the OSCE Section and deputy head of the OSCE Coordination Staff during the Swiss OSCE chairmanship in 1996. He was then deputy head of the Swiss Mission to NATO in Brussels. Before entering the diplomatic service, Dr. Martin Dahinden studied economics at Zurich University. He then lectured at Zurich University and also worked for a bank and a publisher. Martin Dahinden is married and has two children.
Address for enquiries
Press and Information Service
Bundeshaus West
CH-3003 Bern
Tel.: (+41) 031 322 31 53
Fax: (+41) 031 324 90 47
E-Mail: info@eda.admin.ch
Publisher
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html
