ABOUT US

THE FOUNDATION

The foundation was created in 1995 by Alfred Fernandez and Michel Veuthey, current President of the CUHD and Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta, to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The foundation's name is a tribute to Henry Dunant, the worldwide famous founder of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as the instigator of modern international humanitarian law. Dunant also created the Swiss League for Human Rights and pioneered mediation, as well as interreligious and intercultural dialogue.

The Foundation Collège Universitaire Henry Dunant (CUHD) is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its missions are to:

Raise awareness and promote education for the respect of human rights
Train and develop research to prevent human trafficking
Share best practices against human trafficking
Bring together internationally renowned experts
Participate in international events on trafficking and human rights
Encourage survivors of human trafficking and those working in the field

The Foundation is guided by four principles:

We work with survivors, not just for them;
We cooperate with all stakeholders, from the local to the international level;
We act with neutrality, impartiality, and independence;
We promote dignity, social justice, empowerment, and long-term impact.

The Foundation is recognized as a public utility and is controlled by the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations; its donors benefit from tax deductions in Switzerland.

THE PRESIDENT

Michel Veuthey

Michel Veuthey is the President of the Fondation Collège Universitaire Henry Dunant, and serves as the Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta for Monitoring and Combating Trafficking in Persons since 2017.

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, he earned a Doctorate in Law from the University of Geneva and a Diploma from The Hague Academy of International Law.

From 1967 to 2000, he served with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). During his career at the ICRC, he held several key positions, including Member of the Legal Division, Head of the Division of International Organizations, Regional Delegate for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, General Delegate for Europe and North America and Assistant to the ICRC President, Cornelio Sommaruga.

Between 2000 and 2004, he was a member of the Board of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Switzerland. He also served for 12 years as Vice-President of the San Remo International Institute of Humanitarian Law.

Since 2005, Ambassador Veuthey has been an Associate Professor of International Public Law at Webster University in Geneva. He joined the Sovereign Order of Malta in 1986 and has been active in its diplomatic service. In 2011, he was appointed Deputy Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva and, in 2017, was named Ambassador for Monitoring and Combating Trafficking in Persons.

In recognition of his service, Michel Veuthey has received several honors, including the Croix de Grand Officier Pro Merito Melitensi from the Order of Malta and the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.

THE BOARD

Kelly Ryan

Vice-President

President of Jesuit Refugee Service USA, Kelly Ryan is a seasoned diplomat, lawyer, and policy-maker with over 30 years of experience in refugee and asylum law, migration management, and human rights law and policy. She served as the inaugural Chair of the White House Interagency Naturalization Working Group and as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from February 2020 to October 2021. Prior to that, she completed a six-year secondment (2013–2019) to an international organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where she served as Coordinator of the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees (IGC). From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Ryan was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Immigration in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Policy. Earlier in her career, from 2002 to 2009, she was appointed by President George W. Bush as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, where she helped shape U.S. policy on refugee assistance, admissions, migration, and population issues. Ms. Ryan serves on the advisory board of The Catholic University of America. She holds a B.A. in History and English, cum laude, from Tulane University, a J.D. from Georgetown University, and an LL.M. with Honours from the University of Cambridge.

Oreste Foppiani

Vice-President

Oreste Foppiani is the GCSP Global Fellowship Executive Associate Professor in Residence, as well as a Visiting Fellow and Associate Professor of International History and Politics at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. From 2009 to 2022, he taught international history and politics at Webster University Geneva, where he also served as Chair of the International Relations Department from 2013 to 2022. Dr. Foppiani holds a doctorate in international history and politics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IUHEID). During his doctoral studies, he was awarded the Albert Gallatin Fellowship in International Affairs, which allowed him to spend a year at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. Between 2013 and 2016, he held visiting positions as a scholar or associate professor at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Command and Staff College, the School of International Politics, Economics and Communication (SIPEC) at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, and the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies (CEMS) at New York University. His research spans a wide range of topics, including the Spanish-American War, Anglo-American relations during World War II, the origins of the Cold War, naval history of the American and Italian fleets, European integration, EU security policy, transatlantic relations, and the Mediterranean migration crisis.

Emanuele Piluso

Secretary of the Board

Emanuele Piluso holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, a Master's degree in International Relations, and a Master's degree in Diplomatic Studies from the Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI), the official diplomatic academy affiliated with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From August 2022 to May 2025, he served as Advisor and Executive Assistant to the Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta, while also holding the position of Attaché to the United Nations in Geneva. From March 2025 to March 2026, he served as Executive Officer of the Grand Hospitaller's Cabinet, the institutional body responsible for coordinating the Order's international humanitarian aid and cooperation initiatives worldwide. He has acquired solid professional experience in diplomatic communication, policy analysis and drafting, and in the institutional functioning of international organizations. His work has particularly focused on humanitarian and political affairs and the protection of human rights, with a specific interest in the fight against human trafficking

Paul Dembinski

Member of the Board

Paul Dembinski studied political science in Geneva and earned a doctorate in political economics in 1982. He began his academic career in 1979 as an Assistant and later Master Assistant at the University of Geneva. In 1991, he was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Fribourg, where he currently holds a part-time Chair in International Strategy and Competition. He is also the Director of the Observatory of Finance, a think tank dedicated to bridging the gap between financial practices and the demands of the common good.

THE SECRETARIAT

Cesare Lombardo

Cesare Lombardo holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Geneva and is currently pursuing Master's Degree in International Relations at LUISS in Rome.

From September to December 2024, he served as an intern at the Permanent Mission of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the United Nations in Geneva before becoming Advisor and Executive Assistant to Ambassador Michel Veuthey in February 2025.

In the framework of his studies, he is writing a thesis aiming to measure the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council.

Laura Beorchia

Laura Beorchia holds a Double Bachelor's degree in Law and Foreign Languages from Savoie Mont Blanc University. In 2023, she gained valuable professional experience as a legal assistant at a law firm in Montreal, Canada. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in International and European Law at Nice Côte d'Azur University, with a specialization in Migration Studies, and is expected to graduate at the end of 2025. In parallel, she is undertaking a university degree in International Humanitarian Law, jointly coordinated by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo.

She is Assistant to Ambassador Michel Veuthey since April 2025.