Dr. Rolf Kurt JENNY

Before his assignment as Executive Director of the Global Commission on International Migration, Dr. Jenny was the Director of the International Migration Policy Programme (IMP), and inter-agency programme of UNITAR, IOM, UNFPA and ILO, implemented in collaboration with UNHCR and other global and regional institutions.

He previously held senior positions with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) from 1982 to 1996, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 1978 to 1982, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1973 to 1978.  Before these international assignments he had worked as a teacher and researcher at the Zurich University Law Faculty and practiced law until 1973.

In the course of his international career Dr. Jenny has gained in-depth experience in international migration policy, refugee and asylum issues, humanitarian and human rights law, development policies, and international relations and co-operation.  He has worked extensively in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.  He is Vice-President of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and is also a member of the Club of The Hague on the Future of Asylum and Migration Policies.  He holds Senior Special Fellow status with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
 
Dr. Jenny is a Swiss national and is married to Betsheva Peres-Lugassy.  They have two children, Jonathan and Alexandre.