Ambassador Piazzi is an Italian national and alumnus of the Nunziatella Military High School, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi holds an Honors Doctorate Degree in International Political Sciences (Naples), a Master’s degree in Economics and Foreign Trade (Rome), and a Crisis Management Certificate (University of Wisconsin, USA). He attended the Italian Diplomatic Academy.
In 2008, he assumed the role of Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) in Geneva to manage the Secretariat and the planning for the Assembly. He has undertaken peace-support initiatives for, among others, Syria, Libya, the Balkans, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Romania.
After serving with the US Department of State, in 1985, he joined the United Nations and coordinated UN operations in Northern Ethiopia until 1988. From 1992 to 1995, he conceived and managed the UN Programme on the use of international Military and Civil Defense Assets in humanitarian operations. In 1996, he was appointed Head of the UN/DHA Regional Desk for Europe and former USSR. From 2001 to 2006, he was in charge of UN/OCHA’s External Affairs. In January 2007, he was appointed UN Senior Adviser on European Affairs. He was responsible for policy cooperation with the Council of the EU, the European Commission, NATO, the Arab League, G77, G8, OIC, CoE and OSCE, and their Parliamentary Assemblies.
During his career, he also served as UN Representative in Romania, UNDRO Delegate in the Persian Gulf Region and Political Assistant to USG Martti Ahtisaari, Policy Adviser to the Special Representative of the UNSG in Iraq and UN Representative to Operation Turquoise in Rwanda.
In addition to his statutory functions at PAM he regularly conducts, at the request of the EU and the UN, peace-support and confidence-building missions to, among others, Syria, Libya, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Israel and Palestine. In 2014, the UN Security Council Counter Terrorism Committee / CTED, requested his cooperation to launch a major ongoing legislative support programme to adapt and evaluate national legislations of the Euro- Mediterranean and CIS regions, together with the USA and the Russian Federation, to implement relevant UNSC’s resolutions dealing with ISIS and Foreign Terrorist Fighters.
In 2016, the President of the Republic awarded him with the high-honour national distinction - Commendatore to the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.