Members of the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding (SEP) can be deployed to international peacebuilding missions or to the bilateral peacekeeping missions of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Their duties, of which there are many, include election monitoring and advising on constitutional, police or mediation matters.

In the mid-1990s the international community realised that “traditional peacekeeping” operations, which largely consisted of the deployment of a military contingent to oversee the ceasefire process, were ill-suited to the challenges of modern armed conflict. 

In light of the growing number of UN peacekeeping operations, coupled with the ever greater role played by civilians in post-cold war operations, it became apparent that there was a critical need for civilian expertise in peacekeeping, stabilisation and reconstruction. 

Switzerland’s wealth of experience with the foreign deployment of civilian experts, peacebuilding and human rights means that it is well-placed to participate in an influential way to international dialogue on these issues and to improve human security at the field level.

Between 2008 and 2010, 252 Swiss experts acted as election monitors in 45 missions spread over 33 countries. 

The primary purpose of these missions, which were carried out by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU) or the Organisation of American States (OAS), was to ensure that elections were free, fair, transparent and democratic. They also sought to strengthen democratic structures and processes with a view to achieving a lasting and socially acceptable peace in the countries concerned.

The continuous assignment and deployment of Swiss experts have proved to be an effective and visible instrument of Swiss peacebuilding and human rights efforts. Two examples of SEP missions:

• Strengthening the rule of law in Kosovo
  The European Union mission, EULEX, which was launched in 2008, assists the Kosovo government with the development of an independent judicial system and policing services. A Swiss expert advises the mission on all human rights matters and his input has helped to establish the Human Rights Review Panel, an independent body tasked with examining alleged human rights violations by EULEX Kosovo.
• International inquiry in Guinea/Conakry
  In late 2009, a Swiss expert was assigned to a commission of inquiry, mandated by the UN Security Council to investigate the outbreak of violence in Guinea’s capital Conakry in September 2009. Based on the recommendations issued by the commission and debated by the UN Security Council, the International Criminal Court in The Hague launched an investigation to determine whether crimes against humanity had been committed and, if so, to bring the perpetrators to justice.