Céline Jurgensen
Ambassador, Permanent representative of France to the UN and other international organisations in Switzerland
By a decree dated 12 March 2025, Ms Céline Jurgensen was appointed Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations Office at Geneva and to the international organizations in Switzerland. She took office on 29 April 2025. A career diplomat, she has held a wide range of multilateral positions in the areas of humanitarian affairs, development, legal issues and security.
Céline Jurgensen is a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and the National School of Public Administration (ENA) (“René Cassin” Year, 2003). She joined the French Foreign Ministry in 2003 and was assigned to the Legal Affairs Directorate, where she primarily dealt with issues relating to the environment, taxation and the European Union’s common foreign and security policy. In this capacity, she defended the French government before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
From 2008 to 2010, she was responsible for negotiations in the framework of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the Strategic, Security and Disarmament Affairs Directorate. Her appointment to the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations brought her to New York from 2010 to 2012. In 2012, she joined the Ministry of Defence as Deputy Director for Strategic Affairs.
From 2014 to 2016, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations, International Organizations, Human Rights and Francophonie Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In that capacity, she defined and developed French humanitarian strategy, including with respect to International Humanitarian Law, within international organizations. She defined France’s policies on human rights in the relevant international fora and in relation to international criminal jurisdictions.
From 2016 to 2020, she was Director for Strategy and Policy at the Military Applications Division of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), a leading French scientific and research organization.
From 2020 to April 2025, she was Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in Rome (FAO, WFP, IFAD). She was the Chair of the FAO Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters (2023-2025). From 2021 to 2025, she co-chaired the Global School Meals Coalition, made up of over 100 Member States and more than 130 international partners. She chaired the Group of Friends of Supply Chain of WFP (2024-2025).
She was a member of the editorial board of the 2017 French Defence and National Security Strategic Review.
In addition to her professional activities, Céline Jurgensen has lectured at the Ecole Normale Superieure (Ulm) in Paris, and at the Aix-Marseille University. She is a member of the Board and of the Scientific advisory board of the Army Museum (Invalides) in Paris.
She has published several articles and co-authored two collective books. She is Chevalier in the French National Order of Merit.
