Curriculum Vitae Martin Dahinden

Director-General of the SDC, Ambassador

Ambassador Martin Dahinden (*1955) took over the position of Director-General at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in 2008.

Prior to this, Martin Dahinden headed the FDFA's Directorate of Corporate Management (from 2004), after having worked as Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (from 2000 to 2004).

Martin Dahinden entered the diplomatic service in 1987. During his career, he held assignments in Geneva as member of the Swiss Delegation to GATT, at the Swiss Embassy in Paris, as Deputy to the Swiss ambassador in Nigeria, and was temporarily posted at the Swiss Mission to the UN in New York. At the Head Office in Bern, he worked at the FDFA's Service for Disarmament Policy and Nuclear Issues, as Head of the OSCE Service of Political Affairs Division I, and held the post of Deputy Head of the OSCE Coordination Unit during the Swiss Chairmanship of the OSCE in 1996. The following year, he was sent abroad as Deputy Head of the Swiss Mission to NATO in Brussels.

Before entering the diplomatic service, Dr. Martin Dahinden studied Economics (Business Administration) at the University of Zurich. He worked as a post-graduate assistant at the University, and subsequently was employed with a bank and later with a publishing house.

Additional Information and Documents

Speeches of the Director
Speeches by SDC Director-General Martin Dahinden on the current challenges and objectives of develop...