Pierre Krähenbühl
Director-General
ICRC
Pierre Krähenbühl is a Swiss humanitarian official born on 8 January 1966 in Geneva. He spent over two decades at the ICRC before leading UNRWA as Commissioner-General from 2014 to 2019. He resigned from UNRWA amid an ethics investigation, returned to the ICRC in advisory roles, and was appointed Director-General in April 2024.
Pierre Krähenbühl is one of the most experienced and contested figures in contemporary humanitarianism. His career spans more than three decades across two of the sector’s most prominent institutions, the ICRC and UNRWA, and his trajectory illuminates the entanglement of humanitarian leadership with political pressures.
ICRC career (1991-2014)
Krähenbühl joined the ICRC in 1991, beginning with field assignments in El Salvador, Peru, and Afghanistan. He rose through the organisation to become Personal Adviser to the ICRC President (2000-2002) and then Director of Operations (2002-2014), overseeing the ICRC’s global field presence during a period of expanding conflict and humanitarian need.
UNRWA (2014-2019)
In March 2014, Krähenbühl was appointed Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for services to over 5.9 million Palestinian refugees. His tenure was marked by a deepening funding crisis, particularly after the United States, UNRWA’s largest donor, cut its contributions in 2018.
In 2019, an internal ethics investigation led to allegations of nepotism and managerial misconduct, including the creation of a senior position for a personal associate. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) ultimately found no evidence of fraud but identified management issues. Krähenbühl resigned on 7 November 2019. The investigation and its framing remain contested, with some viewing it as politically motivated given the broader campaign to delegitimise UNRWA.
Return to the ICRC (2021-present)
After leaving UNRWA, Krähenbühl returned to the ICRC. He served as Personal Envoy to China (2021-2023) and Secretary-General to the Assembly (2023-2024). In April 2024, he was appointed Director-General, taking on the organisation’s top executive role at a time when the ICRC is undergoing significant budget reductions and restructuring under President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger.
His appointment was not without controversy, given the circumstances of his departure from UNRWA, but reflects both the depth of his operational experience and the relatively small pool of senior humanitarian leadership from which such institutions draw.