Event

DCAF will participate in session 6 of the International Cooperation Forum 2026, which is titled "Tackling causes of crises, not symptoms".

In protracted crises, humanitarian aid is often seen as the only option available to the international community because it is considered less political. However, short-term and reactive approaches are not enough to overcome crises in the long term or prevent a (renewed) deterioration. That gives rise to the following key questions for this session:
How can humanitarian aid help to tackle the (political) causes of conflict without being politicised or instrumentalised?
How can cost-effective conflict prevention become more attractive and gain political acceptance compared to resource-intensive conflict management?
How can international cooperation instruments be combined in a targeted manner to achieve a sustainable impact with reduced public funding?

- Bruno Lemarquis, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Resident Coordinator and Coordinator of Humanitarian Operations in the DRC, (online participation) 
- H.E. Hind Kabawat, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Syrian Arab Republic  
- Nathalie Chuard, Director DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance
- Amitabh Behar, Executive Director, Oxfam International 
- Sidonia Gabriel (moderator), Senior Policy Advisor Fragility, Conflict, Human Rights at Swiss FDFA, SDC

-> Learn more: International Cooperation Forum website