Jean-François Paroz
Ambassador
Embassy of Switzerland to Japan
Biography
Jean-François PAROZ was born in 1960 in Moutier, Canton of Bern. He holds a licence in history from the University of Lausanne and a diploma in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.
He joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1988 where he worked in the Directorate of International Organisations. From 1991 to 1992, he did diplomatic internships in Bern, Lagos and Bonn. Following his return to the FDFA head office in Bern in 1993, he worked as a diplomatic desk officer for African affairs within Political Affairs Division II of the Directorate of Political Affairs.
In 1997, he was transferred to the Swiss Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York as Counsellor and, in 2000, became advisor to the Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) in Paris, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
In 2002, he returned to Bern where he headed, within the United Nations Coordination of Political Affairs Division III, the new Section for Security Council, Political and Communication Affairs. In 2003, he was appointed deputy-head of Political Affairs Division III and head of the United Nations Coordination with the title of a Minister Counsellor.
In 2007, the Federal Council appointed him as the Swiss Ambassador to Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Cape Verde, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
In 2010 he was the Commissioner for the organisation of the 13th Francophonie Summit of Head of States in Montreux, Switzerland, and in 2011 the Commissioner of the 31st International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference in Geneva.
From October 2012 to August 2016, he was the Ambassador of Switzerland in Hungary.
In November 2015, the Federal Council has appointed him to be the next Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan and he has started his mission in Tokyo in September 2016.
Sessions
Sept. 19 • 09:00 – 09:30
