The Embassy of Tunisia in Vienna

Samia Ilhem Ammar

Born on March 13, 1963.

In 1986, she earned a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in "History and Civilization" from the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne. From 1986 to 1988, she completed internships at UNESCO in Paris. She then undertook additional internships at the French School of Historical Studies in Rome, Palazzo Farnese, from 1989 to 1991. Following this, she interned with the International Organization of La Francophonie in Paris during 1991-1992. She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Consellor on November 1, 1994, and completed an internship at the National Defense Institute in Tunis in 1995.

From 2021 to 2023, she served as the Director General of Economic and Cultural Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this role, she created the “IBTIKAR” Program, designed to advance economic and cultural diplomacy through an integrated approach. This program aimed to structure, harmonize, and optimize the efforts and resources of national stakeholders to execute effective promotional actions abroad. It focused on the economic and cultural dimensions of Tunisian diplomacy and included establishing a strategic planning and foresight monitoring system.

Between 2015 and 2020, she was the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Tunisian Republic to Hungary, with accreditation to Slovakia starting in March 2018.

From 2014 to 2015, she held the position of Minister Plenipotentiary and Director of the Study and Research Group on Human Rights. She was responsible for relations with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, and various human rights issues within the United Nations General Assembly, as well as relations with international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Her earlier roles include serving as Consellor at the Tunisian Embassy in Rome from 2008 to 2012, where she handled political and cultural relations with government and parliamentary authorities, and managed media contacts. She was promoted to Minister Plenipotentiary in January 2010.

From 2007 to 2008, she was a Consellor and Deputy Director in the Directorate for Relations with EU Member Countries (Bilateral), responsible for the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004, including Eastern European countries such as Hungary. Prior to this, from 2006 to 2007, she was a Consellor and Deputy Director in the Directorate for Political, Economic Affairs, and Cooperation with the European Union, where she monitored the Tunisia/EU Action Plan related to the Neighborhood Policy.

Between 2004 and 2006, she served as a Consellor and Desk Officer in the Directorate for Relations with the European Union, responsible for the Tunisia/EU Association Agreement and participated in the negotiation group for the Tunisia/EU Action Plan.

From 1999 to 2003, she was a Consellor and Desk Officer at the Permanent Mission of Tunisia to the United Nations Office, Specialized Agencies, and the World Trade Organization in Geneva, focusing on economic and humanitarian issues. Earlier, from 1994 to 1999, she worked as a Consellor and Desk Officer in the General Directorate of International Organizations and Conferences (Multilateral), where she was involved with the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.

Additionally, she was a member of the Tunisian Delegation to the annual sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in 1995 and 1998, and undertook various missions related to the United Nations and European Institutions from 1998 to 2015.