Council of Europe

Ambassador Laura DUPUY LASSERRE

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on September, 18, 1967. She is married and has one son.

Amb. Dupuy has a Degree (License) on International Relations of the University of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay – UDELAR (1986-1990), as well as legal studies (three years) at the same University.

She is a career diplomat (after a competitive admission exam in November of 1990) and has been promoted in the Foreign Service through successive public merit competitions and exams.

On the 23^rd of January 2019, Ambassador Dupuy presented to His Majesty the King Willem-Alexander the Letter of Credence accrediting her as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uruguay to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On February, 5, 2019, she presented credentials to the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Amb. Fernando Arias, as Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the OPCW. Vice-President of the 24^th Conference of the States Parties (2019 – 2020) and co-facilitator on governance issues (2020 – 2021).

Amb. Dupuy was the Director General of Technical and Administrative Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Uruguay, from March 2, 2015 to April 3, 2017. She was also Responsible of information security and the MFR Representative at the National Council on Gender.

She co-chaired the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference (Montevideo, 13-16 July 2016), focused on “non-violence, non-discrimination and social inclusion”, co-organized by Uruguay and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She also participated at the Seminar on Equality and Non-Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity for Parliamentarians of Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by Parliamentarians for Global Action, in Montevideo on July 11, 2016. as well as in the previous global conference held in Washington D.C. in November 2014, and in the first meeting of the Equal Rights Coalition – ERC - at The Hague in November 2016.

She chaired a panel of the Regional Conference on Women from Latin America and the Caribbean, of ECLAC (Montevideo, October 2016), and participated as panelist at the side event of the GQUAL campaign on gender parity at the international representation.

She was President of the United Nations Human Rights Council (from June 2011 to December 2012, 6^th cycle), having been nominated by the GRULAC, as the first woman for that position) and the Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the Office of the United Nations and other Specialized Organizations in Geneva (from October 2009 to October 2014).

She was also President-Rapporteur of the Social Forum 2010 of the U.N. Human Rights Council: “Climate Change and Human Rights” (Geneva, October 4 to 6, 2010) and Vice-president at the Bureau of the Basel Convention on the control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (2013-2015); including co-chairing the regional meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean preparatory of the Conference of the Parties (Montevideo, 14 and 15 of April 2015).

Other positions held:

• Director of Environment, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay (November 2014 – February 2015).
• Director of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (October 2, 2008 - October 2009); which included the preparation of the first national report to the Universal Periodic Review of the HRC.
• Director for the Americas (July 9, 2007 – October 1, 2008) - bilateral relations with the 34 countries of the region, i.a., treaty negotiations and promotion of border and hydrographic basin cooperation.
• Alternate Representative to the Organization of American States (O.A.S.), Washington, D.C., USA (June 2002 – June 2007) dealing with human rights, legal and political affairs, including legal cooperation, drugs (CICAD), environment and trade.
• National Alternate Coordinator of the Trade Commission of MERCOSUR (CCM) (2000 – June 2002), at the General Direction on Integration and MERCOSUR of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Delegate to the Latin-American Association of Integration (ALADI, 2001). Follow-up, i.a., of trade in services at the sub-regional, hemispheric and MERCOSUR-EU level; preparation of the first meeting of Representatives of GAFISUD - South American Group on financial action against money laundering- held in Montevideo, 4 and 5 June 2001.
• Delegate of Uruguay, Permanent Mission to the U.N. Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland (February 1995 – February 2000). - i.a., negotiation of legal instruments on human rights and environment: optional Protocol on the Convention against Torture; ILO Convention Nr. 182 on worst forms of child labour (1999); optional Protocols on the Convention on the Rights of the Child on participation of children in armed conflicts (2000) and on sale of children, child prostitution and use of children in pornography; Protocol to the Basel Convention on liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1999).
• Delegate of the MFR for labour and environmental issues at MERCOSUR (1993-1994). Organized the first specialized meeting on environment – REMA - in Montevideo, 29 and 30 November 1993.
• Alternate Delegate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Direction of Environment (1992-1994), at the National Technical Advisory Commission on Environment (COTAMA). -Participates in different UN meetings (UNEP, biological diversity, chemical safety), and acts as focal point in the preparation of the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention, held in Piriápolis, Uruguay, in November 1992.
• In 1991 she reports to the Regional Direction of Europe (i.a. prepares the establishment of diplomatic relationships with Iceland) and to the Diplomatic Academy “Instituto Artigas del Servicio Exterior” (supporting the organization of conferences, academic visits, publications and meeting of Directors of diplomatic academies of Latin America). Scholarship by European cooperation for a regional course on regional integration for the diplomatic academies of the Southern Cone, at the ISEN, Argentina, August 1991.

She previously worked at the private sector: Lycée Français de Montevideo (1988-1990, administration and accounting).

Amb. Dupuy gave academic conferences and published articles on human rights, among those, outside of the term as President of the U.N. HRC, the following:

• Article “The Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the contribution by Uruguay, in its 60th anniversary”, published int the Foreign Policy magazine of the Foreign Service Association, 2008/2009.
• “Lecture on global governance”, “focus: The Human Rights Council” (Université de Genève - UNI Dufour, Geneva, 26.02.2013).
• Opening of the XVII session of the summer University of Collège universitaire Henry Dunant de Genève (2012) and panelist at conference “Le propre de l´homme” organized by Collège universitaire Henry Dunant, United Nations Library, Geneva, 20.03.2014.
• Article on freedom of religion and belief “United Nations Human Rights Council and its Resolutions on Freedom of Religion or Belief”, publication Nr 74 – special edition - “Worldwide Human Rights and Religious Liberty: a new equilibrium or new challenges”, International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty –AIDLR (2013).
• Presentation “Translating international commitments on human rights into national realities: the role of Parliaments and their contribution to the Mechanism of Universal Periodic Review – UPR - of the U.N. HRC”, at a regional seminar for parliamentarians of Latin America organized by the IPU - Inter Parliamentary Union - and the UN OHCHR together with the Uruguayan Parliament, 15-16 July 2014.
• Article “Personal commitment to human rights and political will to think creatively, key to successful HRC Presidency”, at HRC Monitor magazine, of the NGO ISHR, special edition for the tenth anniversary of the U.N. Human Rights Council (2016).
• Article “Tenth anniversary of the U.N. Human Rights Council (2006 – 2016)”, published by Revista Sur, NGO Conectas (2016).
• Invited by the OHCHR to participate as panelist at the official event for the tenth anniversary of the UN HRC (Geneva, June 2016), as former President of the Council.
• Presentation at conference and course organized by the Government School at the Legislative power in 2016: - “Realities and challenges in face of the crime of human trafficking” (12.09.2016) and - Human Rights Course for parliamentarians´ advisors, “Uruguay and the international agenda on human rights” (29.11.2016).
• Invited to present ideas at the opening of an informal meeting of reflection on ways to strengthen the U.N. Human Rights Council towards its review process (Geneva, December 1, 2017), organized by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• Panelist at the Global GQUAL Conference for the promotion of gender parity at the international representation, “Changing the present situation of international justice”, organized by the NGO CEJIL (Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional) at The Hague, 3-5 October 2017, focusing on the selection process of candidates (“How States’ national selection processes impact women´ s ability to access international positions”; “Uruguay as a country with some good practices in the selection process at the national level”), and
• Panelist at the Ibero-American Week on International Justice, organized by the Ibero-American Institute for peace, human rights and international justice (IIH), on the issue “gender parity in international tribunals and organizations”, at The Hague, 30 May - 8 June 2018.
• Joint article at the Diplomatic Magazine of the MFA of Uruguay (2020), with Cristina Mansilla Decesari, on Paulina Luisi and Isabel Pinto de Vidal, Uruguayan pioneers in the multilateral system, from the League of Nations to the creation of the United Nations (“Paulina Luisi e Isabel Pinto de Vidal: Pioneras uruguayas en el sistema multilateral, de la Sociedad de las Naciones a la creación de las Naciones Unidas”).

                                                                                   March 2021