THE HAGUE, Netherlands-27 Month Year-Swiss diplomat Sabrina Dallafior was appointed as next Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) by the Conference of the State Parties today, on the recommendation of the Executive Council, for a term of four years. She will be OPCW's fifth Director-General and will assume office on 25 July 2026.
In her new capacity, Ambassador Dallafior will lead the Organisation in advancing the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). She will be responsible for ensuring that the Technical Secretariat continues to fulfil its mandate independently, effectively and efficiently, while strengthening cooperation with Member States and promoting compliance and universal adherence to the CWC.
"As Director-General, I will accord the highest importance to upholding the norm against chemical weapons. Ensuring its long-term sustainability requires us to investigate all credible allegations of use, establishing the scientific facts, and to denounce all confirmed cases […] This is non-negotiable, as it touches the very core of the Convention," Ambassador Dallafior.
Ambassador Dallafior is currently serving as Ambassador of Switzerland to Finland. She has been a career diplomat since 2000 and has extensive multilateral experience regarding security and defence policy, disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation as well as bilateral experience in Europe. In the past decade, she represented Switzerland as Consular General in Milano and between 2016 and 2019, she served as Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG). There, she held several offices, including the Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament, the Chair of the Working Group on effective treaty implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty, or the Chair of the Article 5 Committee of the Anti-Personal Mine Ban Convention. Additionally, she led Swiss Delegations to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly.
Previously, she served as Deputy Head of the Human Security Division in Bern, Head of the delegation for bilateral dialogues with Nigeria and Senegal and Head of Political Affairs and Security Policy at the Swiss Mission to the EU in Brussels. Ambassador Dallafior also lead the Swiss OSCE Team and was First Secretary at the Swiss Mission to NATO. She began her diplomatic career as an attaché at the Swiss Mission to the EU in Brussels.
Ambassador Dallafior will succeed Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain , who has been serving as the fourth OPCW Director-General since December 2017.
"I warmly congratulate Ambassador Dallafior on her appointment by the Conference of the States Parties as the next Director-General of the OPCW. Today's unanimous decision of the Conference of the States Parties by acclamation provides legitimacy and full authority to Ambassador Dallafior to lead the OPCW. Her extensive diplomatic experience, commitment to multilateralism, and strong understanding of international security will serve the Organisation well at this pivotal moment," he said.
"As the OPCW continues to uphold the global norm against chemical weapons, the Organisation must strengthen its ability to address emerging chemical threats, advance universality and full implementation of the Convention, and deepen cooperation with Member States. I am confident that Ambassador Dallafior's leadership and strategic vision will guide the OPCW in meeting these challenges and ensuring that chemistry continues to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes," Director-General Arias added.
Background
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention's entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 - totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents - have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW's strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
