Biography
Jacques Forster, professor emeritus at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, was Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1999 to 2007. He was Director of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED) in Geneva from 1980 to 1992, worked for the Swiss Government in its development co-operation agency and as a consultant in the field of international development cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia, and was Chairman of the Foundation Board of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva from 2010 to 2014.
Prof. Forster holds a PhD in economics from the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and has published extensively on North-South relations, international development cooperation and humanitarian issues.
Academic activities:
- 1969-1971 Visiting lecturer at the Institute of International Relations of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago.
- 1977-2006 Professor at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Geneva.
- 1980-1992 Director of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Geneva
Activities in the filed of international development cooperation and humanitarian action:
- 1972-1977 Head of the Latin America section of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Bern.
- 1990-1999 President of Intercooperation, Bern
- 1988-2010 Member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- 1999-2007 ICRC Vice-president Geneva
Jacques Forster teaches Introduction to Humanitarian Action at MASHLM.
