assistant secretary Vice-President
Mr. Gass holds a Doctor of Philosophy in natural sciences and an Master of Science in engineering diploma in agricultural sciences, both from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He prepared his Baccalaureate in Mathematics and Physics at the Externat Notre Dame, France.
He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 31 May 2013 and was sworn into office on 3 September 2013, bringing with him wide-ranging experience in bilateral and multilateral development cooperation. From 2009 to 2013, Thomas 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.
Before his posting to Nepal from 2004 to 2009, Mr.
Gass was Head of the Economic and Development Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, where he represented Switzerland’s interests, in particular in the Economic and Social Council (Economic and Social Council (of the UN)), its subsidiary Commissions, the General Assembly and the Executive Boards of the major United Nations Funds and Programmes. During this time, Mr Gass was the Chair of the Donor Group of the United Nations Global Compact.
In 2006, he was the Vice-President for Western European and Other Group (WEOG) of the Commission on Population and Development, and in 2008 he was the Vice-President (WEOG) of the Executive Board of United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund. In 2007, he successfully facilitated the landmark TCPR/QCPR Resolution, the periodic review of the General Assembly operational system for development. Mr. Gass also served as Policy and Programme Officer for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, as Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (United Nations Development Programme) in Guyana, and as Regional Director for Europe with the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute in Rome.
Foreign more information: Visit Mr.
Gass’ page on United Nations DESA’s website Read the DESA News article “Behind the scenes at the United Nations General Assembly” Access the DESA News interview with Mr.
