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The Embassy of the Netherlands in Geneva |
Contact
Address
Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
Avenue Giuseppe-Motta 31-33
1211 Geneva 20
or
P.O. Box 196
1211 Geneva 20 CIC
Phone Number
+41 22 748 18 00
Email
gev@minbuza.nl
The Ambassador
Amb. Erica Schouten
H.E. Mrs. Erica Schouten is a highly accomplished senior career diplomat within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bringing decades of strategic experience across multilateral security, European affairs, and political policy, she assumed her high-level duties in Geneva with an exceptional reputation for statecraft.
Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Ambassador Schouten held several prominent positions within the Dutch foreign service. Notably, she served as the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Australia, where she significantly advanced bilateral security, trade, and Indo-Pacific cooperation. Within the central ministry in The Hague, she has operated at the highest levels of strategic policy, including serving as the Director of the European Policy Department and as a senior advisor on political-military affairs and international security. Holding advanced academic credentials in international relations, she is widely recognized in the diplomatic corps for her sharp multilateral negotiation skills, analytical depth, and commitment to rules-based global governance.
History
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has a historically massive, proactive, and influential footprint in International Geneva, fundamentally driven by its identity as a global champion of international law, human rights, and open trade.
The Permanent Mission in Geneva serves as the primary engine for the Netherlands inside the UN Human Rights Council, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Conference on Disarmament. Historically, Dutch diplomacy in Geneva has been a leading pioneer in defending universal human rights, advancing LGBTQI+ equality, promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and fighting for accountability and the rule of law. Under Ambassador Schouten’s leadership, the mission aggressively drives multilateral reforms, advocates for transparent and free global trade architectures, and actively collaborates with global health bodies to strengthen pandemic preparedness and digital health innovation.
