Susanne Fries-Gaier (born July 5, 1968) is a German diplomat. From August 2021 to July 2024, she was Deputy Head of the Crisis Prevention, Stabilization, Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Aid Division and Commissioner for

Humanitarian Aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

at the

Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the Foreign minister, foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency (Germany), federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with ...

. In August 2024, she traveled to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

-designate to take over as head of the

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Biography

Fries-Gaier studied at the German Foreign Service Academy, from which she graduated in 1991 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

. During her first diplomatic assignments abroad, she studied

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the Open University of Hagen. She is married to the retired German diplomat Achim Gaier. In 2001, she joined the training program for the Senior Foreign Service. From 2003 to 2006, she worked as a desk officer for

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Domestic policy Domestic policy, also known as internal policy, is a type of public policy overseeing administrative decisions that are directly related to all issues and activity within a state's borders. It differs from foreign policy, which refers to the ways ...

at the Embassy in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. This was followed by a posting in the Department for

Global Affairs Global studies (GS) or global affairs (GA) is the interdisciplinary study of global macro-processes. Predominant subjects are political science in the form of global politics, as well as economics, law, the sociology of law, ecology, environmental ...

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

at the Federal Foreign Office from 2006 to 2008. Until 2010, she moved to the

Human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

Division at the German Foreign Office headquarters. In July 2010, Fries-Gaier was transferred to the

Permanent Mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...

to the United Nations in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. She served there until summer 2013 as a Counsellor in the Political Section. Back at the Federal Foreign Office, she was appointed Deputy Head of Division for UN Affairs until summer 2017. She then moved to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

for a year as Head of the Political Section. From there, she was transferred to the Federal Chancellery in summer 2018, where she became Head of the section for the United Nations, Global Issues,

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

. Back at the German Foreign Office in August 2021, she was appointed Deputy Head of the Crisis Prevention, Stabilization, Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Aid Division and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office. On June 5, 2024, the Federal Cabinet decided to appoint Fries-Gaier as Ambassador to Chile. Fries-Gaier is a member of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:FriesGaier, Susanne 1968 births Living people German women diplomats