Launch of the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation

Mr. Maurer, President of the ICRC,
Mr. Burkhalter, Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs,
Excellencies,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen:

I am very pleased to join you for the launch of the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation today. This centre is an extremely valuable addition to the humanitarian and mediation communities here in Geneva and beyond. It fills a gap that has existed for too long: while international Geneva and the wider humanitarian communities have built up a unique ecosystem of competence in the promotion of humanitarian principles and the negotiation of access, there has not been a centre to pull this expertise together. A famous son of this city, the founder of the ICRC Henry Dunant, was one of the first humanitarian negotiators to have gained wide attention in the second half of the 19th century. It was him who convinced the local population to care for the wounded of the battle of Solferino and who negotiated the release of doctors from captivity so they could save the injured. Despite this long tradition, there has been little systematic learning and sharing of best practices. I am convinced that the Centre here in Geneva can and will change this.

Balancing the determination to get humanitarian access with the safety of our humanitarian workers – indeed the safety of many of you who came here straight from the field – is obviously a key priority. The disturbingly, consistently high numbers of attacks against humanitarian workers and the bombings of hospitals are an unacceptable challenge to the principle of non-negotiable safe and unhindered access to the victims. We all know this. But we need to be able to convince our counterparts in the conflict-zones around the world of the absolute necessity of respecting humanitarian principles. It is therefore all the more important that we collect the joint expertise across international organizations, NGOs and other humanitarian partners, to maximize the impact of our negotiators through lessons learned and best practices.

International Geneva brings together humanitarian agencies with a wide range of expertise and operational capacity. At the recent World Humanitarian Summit, the need for innovation was emphasized. And we know that innovation thrives in tightly knit communities such as the one we have right here in Geneva. Médécins Sans Frontières, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the ICRC and UNHCR are crucial actors in this network and I am very pleased that our colleagues from Rome at the WFP joined forces with them in creating the Centre of Competence for Humanitarian Negotiation. The centre will benefit all of the different actors in Geneva and beyond. It is very much in the multi-stakeholder spirit of this city that there are also representatives of the private sector at this launch event today.

This new centre will also help all of us to develop an evidence-based understanding of when we need to insist on clear separation of political and humanitarian tasks and actors, and when collaboration between them is beneficial. At the UN Office in Geneva, we have increased our own capacities in collaboration with the Department of Political Affairs, and with the generous help of Switzerland, with a Senior Mediation Officer who is very much engaged on these important issues.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation is another essential step towards a more integrated, horizontal way of doing business, a process that is well under way in many domains as the international community has begun to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The centre can build on a fertile ground with a unique ecosystem that has been shaped here in Geneva since the creation of the Red Cross more than 150 years ago. It can also rely on the exceptional multi-stakeholder structure that has decisively contributed to the development of International Geneva as we know it today. The Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiations will further enrich our ecosystem and contribute new added value to International Geneva.

I warmly welcome the Centre into our International Geneva community and thank all the supporters of this project. I would like to finish by expressing my deep appreciation to all the frontline negotiators here today and those that could not make it, for your dedication and persistence in one of the most challenging jobs in the world. We have much to learn from your experience, and the new Centre will allow us to do so.

Thank you very much.