FACILITATION
Life has taught me that no one can claim to detain the full truth. As a Swiss I do believe that one of the key elements of a peaceful and stable society lies in the institutionalization of processes leading to a compromise.
Having worked as a facilitator of complex resolutions in the United Nations, I have sound expertise in helping to find solutions even for the most sensitive issues. As a bridge builder, it has given me great satisfaction to invest my energy and determination in helping to find a satisfying and solid compromise for all parties, such as in the facilitation of the negotiations of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) of the United Nations Development System in 2012 at the General Assembly level.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Intuitive and innovative by nature, I enjoy shaping new financial instruments for development work, both at the project and at the organizational level. Currently, with my team in the Global Water Division, we are working on ways to facilitate transboundary infrastructure investments in river basins.
Over the past 30 years, I have contributed to put in place several initiatives fostering innovative financial management at the local level, which have shown results in terms of reducing poverty and hunger, while reinforcing social cohesion in rural areas.
As the Head of the Global Cooperation Department of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, I manage an annual portfolio of CHF 600 million. This involves constantly looking for the most efficient way to fund our programmes, and engaging in innovative partnerships to respond to global challenges in a sustainable way.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
I was born in the southern part of Switzerland, a mountainous region where in the past, many of its inhabitants had to leave behind their family farms in order to make a living elsewhere and escape poverty.
Therefore, since my childhood, I have been passionate about rural development. Agro-economist by formation, I have had the privilege to work both on economic growth, as well as on enhancing access to equitable social services in varied contexts around the world, dealing both directly with communities at the grass-root level, as well as in close interaction with policy-makers at the highest level.
I find it very useful to refer to a systemic analysis framework in order to address the complex issues that are at the heart of rural development, and in the 21st century, to address the challenge of inclusive rural transformation.
PIO WENNUBST
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AGRO-ECONOMIST AND SENIOR EXECUTIVE
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Ambassador, Vice-Director General
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
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MY VIDEOS
Fear as an Agent for Change, talk held at TEDxLugano
Switzerland in the UN
EXPERIENCE
SKILLS
Strategic Planning
Policy Dialogue Leader
Human Resources Management & Coaching
Systemic Analysis
Bridge Builder
Fluent in Italian, English, French and Spanish
EXPERTISE
Ambassador, Vice-Director General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Bern
Head of SDC’s Global Cooperation department overseeing 130 staff members; management of an annual portfolio of CHF 600 million including the Swiss financial support to IFIs; institutional responsibility for the UN development agencies; management of global programmes Food Security, Climate Change, Migration & Development, Water and Health.
Governor to IFAD; Vice-Chairperson of the Bureau of the Governing Council of IFAD (2014-2015).
Since 2014
2011-2013
Minister, Head of Development and Humanitarian Affairs, Swiss Permanent Representation to the UN, New York
Head of the team in charge of negotiations at the General Assembly and the ECOSOC; facilitator of the QCPR resolution at the UN General Assembly; chair of the Global Compact group of friends.
Head of SDC Global Programme Food Security, Bern
Head of the Global Programme Food Security with an annual budget of CHF 45 million and a team of 12 professional staff in Bern, Addis Ababa, and Rome.
Governor to IFAD.
2010-2011
2007-2011
Deputy Permanent Representative, Swiss Mission to FAO, IFAD and WFP, Rome
Executive Director to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD.
2004-2007
Country Director, SDC, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Chair of the General Budget Support and Health Sector Reform groups in Tanzania, in direct contact with the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Health.
2001-2004
Economist, SDC Bern
1998-2000
Country Director, SDC Antananarivo, Madagascar
1995-1998
Deputy Country Director, SDC La Paz, Bolivia
1992-1995
Marketing Associated Expert, FAO Kathmandu, Nepal
1991-1992
Head of Public Relations, UCT Farmers Union, Bellinzona, Switzerland
1981-1984
General Manager, Terravit SA, chemical company, Lugano, Switzerland