PRINTBorn in Milan in 1961, she graduated in Political Science and Japanese at the University of Naples “L'Orientale” and subsequently obtained seven national and international master's degrees, specializing in peacekeeping and international negotiations.
She has 30 years of management and leadership experience in development and crisis areas, particularly abroad. She has proven capacity in the field of development and rehabilitation policy assistance, governance and international humanitarian and security assistance.
She has proven managerial experience in the public and private infrastructure sector, in particular in the fields of energy, aviation, marine, plant engineering and transport, migration and social welfare.
She has extensive experience in human resource and administrative management.
She is an expert in international negotiation, management and coordination of reconstruction and stabilization processes in countries in transition and at war.
She has many years of experience in the international sphere of the OSCE, UNDP and European Union international bodies, as well as in national and international non-governmental and humanitarian organizations.
From 1986 to 1987 she was an assistant lecturer at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and at the University of Rome “LUISS Guido Carli”.
From 1987 to 1989 she was Managing Director of W.A.I.P.O. Company at its Tokyo headquarters.
She was an international official of the United Nations in Bangladesh (from 1989 to 1991) where she held positions including Aviation and Energy Marine Manager of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Head of International Relations – External Relations (from 1992 to 1993) and Director of Marketing, External Relations and Communication (from 1993 to 1996) at aeronautics, engineering and plant engineering companies; Head of Mission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Cooperation and NGOs (from 1996 to 1999) and Regional Director of the OSCE in Bosnia Herzegovina, where she also carried out other missions (from 1997 to 2002).
In 2003, she was appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the provisional occupation authority of the Anglo-American coalition in the Iraq war, responsible for infrastructure and reconstruction in Basra, Iraq. The following year, she was appointed by the US ambassador to Iraq to head the civil administration of the Dhi Qar Governorate, comprising twenty towns, including the capital Nasiriyah, where Italian troops were stationed under British command. In this role, she initiated a dialogue with Aus Al Kharfaji, the lieutenant of Moqtada al-Sadr's Shia militias.
From autumn 2004 to December 2005 she was special envoy of the Prime Minister's Office by the Berlusconi III government to Darfur in Sudan, where in 2006 she was appointed head of the International management group, an international body financed by, among others, the Ministry of foreign affairs. In this role, she acted as a mediator in the field, meeting delegates of the Sudan Liberation Movement rebels and presenting at negotiations between the government and the rebels in Abuja, Nigeria.
From 2008 to 2013 she was a Senator of the Italian Republic, serving as a member of the Foreign, Defence, Human Rights and European Union Committees, as well as President of the Italy-Iraq Inter-Parliamentary Union.
From 2010 to 2016 she was President of the Alliance of the Italian Hospitals Worldwide and from 2014 to 2016 President of the Government Committee for Security and Immigration at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for the Under-secretary of State for European Policies.
From 2016 to 2020 she served as Director of Operations, Director of Emergencies, Delegate of Auxiliary Corps and Under-secretary General of the Italian Red Cross.
A recipient of numerous honours, she is a Commendatore of the Italian Republic.