Thomas Gass
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Thomas Gass is a Swiss diplomat who currently serves as Head of the South Cooperation Department of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Until the end of December 2017, Gass served as the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Ec ...
(UN DESA). During this period, he was involved in the preparation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. He was also an ex officio member of The
UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...
's Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development (IEAG) which produced the report "A World That Counts: Mobilising The Data Revolution for Sustainable Development". Previous appointments included Ambassador and Head of Mission of Switzerland to Nepal (2009-2013), as well as a wide-range of experiences in bilateral and multilateral development cooperation.


Education

Gass holds a PhD in natural sciences and an MSc in engineering diploma in agricultural sciences, both from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (
ETH (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...
). He prepared his Baccalaureate in Mathematics and Physics at the Externat Notre Dame in
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, France.


Career

Early in his career, Gass served as Policy and Programme Officer for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, as Deputy Resident Representative of the
United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
(UNDP) in Guyana, and as Regional Director for Europe with the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute in Rome. From 2004 to 2009, Gass served as Head of the Economic and Development Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York, where he represented Switzerland’s interests, in particular in the Economic and Social Council (
United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...
(ECOSOC), its subsidiary Commissions, the General Assembly and the Executive Boards of the major UN Funds and Programmes. During this time, he chaired the Donor Group of the
UN Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princi ...
. In 2006, he served as Vice-President of the
Western European and Others Group The Group of Western European and Other States, also known as the Western European and Other States Group or WEOG, is one of the five United Nations regional groups and is composed of 28 Member States mainly from Western Europe, but also fro ...
of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development and in 2008 he was appointed the Vice-President of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA. In 2007, he successfully facilitated a
United Nations resolution A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly. Legal st ...
on the
quadrennial comprehensive policy review The Quadrennial comprehensive policy review (QCPR) of the operational system of the United Nations is a process and a United Nations General Assembly resolution by which the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) review the coher ...
(QCPR), the periodic review of the General Assembly operational system for development. From 2009 to 2013, Gass served as Head of the Mission of Switzerland to Nepal (Ambassador and Country Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), where he established the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal, and ensured the delivery of a development cooperation programme of up to 33 million dollars a year. He also chaired the Donors of the Nepal Peace Trust Fund, the main instrument for international support to Nepal’s peace process.


Other activities

* The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), Representing Switzerland on the Board (since 2018) *
Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC), formed in 2012, is an association of governments and organisations that seeks to improve practices of international development. It has a unique position due to the breadth an ...
, Co-Chair (since 2019)Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation
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Personal life

Gass is married and parent of three adult children.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gass, Thomas Swiss officials of the United Nations Living people Year of birth missing (living people)