KOFF Annual Meeting

Over 30 representatives from member organizations took part in the KOFF annual meeting on May 12, 2016. After an eventful 2015, the aim was to take stock of the situation and assess the challenges as well as the opportunities that KOFF now faces.

The meeting’s statutory part provided an opportunity to discuss KOFF’s positioning. Many organizations renewed their call for stronger political commitment on KOFF’s part and for peacebuilding to have a greater presence in Swiss public debate. KOFF then presented its draft Advisory Board, which is to replace the Steering Committee from September 2016 and is aimed, amongst other things, at improving member organizations’ representativeness and their access to decision-making.

In the thematic section of the meeting, the Human Security Division (HSD) presented its regional and thematic priorities regarding peace and human rights policy, with the aim of strengthening the ties and synergies between the HSD and NGOs. The HSD took this opportunity to restate its commitment to KOFF and its desire to maintain a regular dialogue with NGOs towards developing innovative approaches.

The KOFF team would like to thank its member organizations for their participation, their support, and their drive throughout this meeting.

Business, Conflict & Human Rights Course

What is needed for businesses to operate responsibly in volatile areas? The swisspeace course on Business, Conflict & Human Rights explores this question from various angles. It discusses state of the art international standards on business and human rights and ways for companies to implement them. Through a focus on active participation and common experiences, it sheds light on the roles and strategies of companies, governments, international organizations, and civil society in promoting responsible business practices.

Participants will be familiarized with relevant regulations, standards and initiatives at national and international levels; learn about best practices and improve their ability to practically implement and promote responsible business conduct; and develop a tailor-made action plan for one of their current projects to guide future implementation and better understand the perspectives of representatives from other stakeholder groups.

The course will take place from 10-12 November, 2016 in Basel. It can be taken as one module of the Master of Advanced Studies in Civilian Peacebuilding program offered by swisspeace and the University of Basel.