VOIX DES FEMMES, a series of events held by TERRE DES FEMMES Switzerland, will be taking place for the eighth time in 2017. This year, the organization invites Yanar Mohammed, an Iraqi activist coming from Bagdad to tell us about women defending human and women’s rights in Iraq. She will be in Switzerland from June 8-14, 2017 and hold conferences in Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva.

In Chad, oil trading is dominated by Swiss commodities company Glencore. SWISSAID, having conducted research into these activities in Chad, will present the results of this research at a debate in Berne on June 13, 2017. Swiss members of parliament will be invited to discuss the demands made by SWISSAID in the presence of representatives from Glencore. The issues raised will include how to make commodities trading more transparent and how to ensure the local population can also benefit from these activities.

This year, artasfoundation invites you to an information event on its activities. The event will provide an opportunity to find out about the different projects and to talk to the organization’s members.

When it comes to human rights, whether in Switzerland or abroad, Switzerland has big ambitions. However, when it comes to evaluation, it is not uncommon to find a lack of coherence in human rights activity. Participants in the annual public meeting of the NGO Platform Human Rights on June 19 will discuss the difficulties of achieving coherence in Switzerland’s foreign affairs policy and the challenges of pursuing a foreign affairs policy in tune with human rights.

Vocational education can make a big difference in reducing poverty, helping people acquire the skills they need to be economically active and take part in society, giving them prospects and access to decent pay and improved incomes. The Annual Swiss Development Cooperation Conference 2017 will be dedicated to that topic.

Civilian peacebuilding plays a crucial role in efforts to transform violent conflict, promote peace, rebuild war-torn societies and prevent the recurrence of violence. This postgraduate course provides a holistic understanding of civilian peacebuilding and reflects critically on peacebuilding practices. It analyses theories, concepts, debates, policies and practices in peacebuilding & statebuilding; gender in conflict & peacebuilding; peacebuilding methodologies; peace mediation; dealing with the past & transitional justice, and business, conflict & human rights. The CAS consists of 21 course days (on Fridays/Saturdays) and runs from September 2017 to August 2018.

Finding a way to deal with a violent past following events such as civil war, the end of an authoritarian regime or occupation, is often argued to be the basis for lasting peace, democracy and rule of law. In this swisspeace course, participants will learn about the design and implementation of effective and transformative dealing with the past processes, get to know ‘local’ approaches to dealing with the past as well as ‘international’ norms and frameworks, understand processes of memorialization and learn from victim-perpetrators relationships in contexts of transition.

Apply now for the Build Peace Fellows Program. This program is aimed at exceptional individuals who want to work at the intersection of peacebuilding, arts, research and technology. It builds local innovative potential for individuals and organisations embedded in peacebuilding processes. Over one year, Build Peace helps fellows take an innovative peacebuilding intervention from idea to pilot implementation.

How can peace and conflict studies contribute to understanding the conflict dynamics in South Sudan, and how can insights from South Sudan advance academic research? The five-day summer school will focus on the main developments in South Sudan since independence in 2011 and the key actors and main drivers of conflict today. It explores how the ongoing armed conflict relates to previous civil wars and the lessons learned from peace and state building engagement taking place prior to independence. Specific topics relevant to the South Sudan context including state formation, local governance, peace mediation, civil society, and responsibility to protect will be centre stage. The Summer school will take place on July 3-7, 2017.

With the theme “Tunisia: building a lasting peace”, the International Summer Academy and Forum 2017 offers its participants a great opportunity for networking and in-depth understanding of the current situation and future challenges in Tunisia.

What is needed for businesses to operate responsibly in volatile areas? The swisspeace course on business, conflict and 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. It sheds light on the roles and strategies of companies, governments, international organizations and civil society in promoting responsible business practices. the course is organized in cooperation with SAFESTAINABLE.