Martin Griffiths is the founding Director of the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre), an independent Swiss foundation dedicated to helping improve the global response to armed conflict, which has become one of the world’s most prominent private, non-governmental, conflict mediation organisations.

A lawyer by training, Mr. Griffiths has worked in UNICEF in Asia, in the British Diplomatic Service, and in British NGOs, including as Chief Executive of ActionAid. In 1994, he rejoined the United Nations (UN) as Director of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (which became OCHA) in Geneva, and then from 1998 as Deputy to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator in New York. During this period, he also served as UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes and UN Regional Coordinator in the Balkans with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary-General.