About the Ambassador
Ambassador Deike Potzel is a career diplomat with the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA). Prior to her appointment as Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, she held senior positions within the German MFA, including Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues, Director-General for Crisis Prevention, Stabilisation, Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Assistance, Inspector General, and Deputy Director-General for Human Resources.
From 2017 to 2021, she represented Germany as Ambassador to Ireland. Earlier in her career, she held diplomatic postings at the German embassies in Iran and Singapore, and worked on topics including EU Enlargement, Iran, and the Gulf countries.
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CopyrightEUDEL GENEVA, 2025
Ambassador Deike Potzel
Welcome to the website of the EU Delegation to the UN Geneva!
Dear reader,
multilateral work in Geneva impacts your life – would you agree?
Let me give you some examples: The Pandemic Agreement adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2025 will help countries across the globe to better prevent and prepare for future pandemics. The labour standards that States agree on at the International Labour Organization shape national laws and safeguard workers everywhere. And the resolutions that countries present at the Human Rights Council strengthen fundamental rights worldwide and hold governments accountable.
Geneva is also where countries come together to address global crises and conflicts: from Gaza to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan, from climate change to digitization to refugee and migration issues.
Together with the team at the EU Delegation, and with EU Member States, we work closely with over 40 United Nations bodies and international organisations present in this city. We are a strong voice on human rights—whether leading resolutions on critical country situations such as Belarus, Myanmar or North Korea, or defending the rights of women and girls and LGBTIQ people worldwide. We also champion respect for international humanitarian law, protecting civilians in armed conflict. As the world’s largest donor of humanitarian and development aid, we work hand in hand with international institutions based in Geneva, addressing for example global displacement and hunger. At the Conference on Disarmament, we advocate for a ban on landmines and for preventing an arms race in outer space.
How do we do this? By working together with the more than 180 countries represented in Geneva. The EU believes in multilateralism. It delivers global solutions. It is in our collective interest. Recent Eurobarometer results confirm: 9 out of 10 Europeans want Member States to tackle global challenges together. And this is what we do - every day.
The United Nations provides the forum to do just that, giving all states an equal voice. We want a United Nations that is strong, efficient, and agile—an organisation capable of delivering for the people it serves. That is why we support an ambitious UN reform.
This vision guides our work in Geneva and inspires us to remain a strong EU voice in all multilateral discussions taking place here.
I hope you find our website useful, and I invite you to follow us on our social media channels, where we share daily updates and engage directly with our audience.
Enjoy your visit!
Ambassador Deike Potzel