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GCSP's e-Newsletter
Issue No. 5, 5 May 2014
DISCOVER
Logo of the Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education
Joint GCSP-UNIGE Master Programme receives highest level of accreditation in Switzerland
The University of Geneva's Master of Advanced Studies in International and European Security (MAS), run jointly by the Global Studies Institute (GSI) of the University of Geneva and the GCSP, has been accredited by the Swiss University Conference. This accreditation, which recognizes the scientific excellence of the programme, offers the highest level of international recognition for a degree in Switzerland. Now in its 8th year, the MAS has a growing alumni community of 127 professionals from government ministries, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and academia, in 52 states across six continents.

REFLECT
Dr Gérard Prunier at the GCSP on 28 April 2014
"Africa does not exist; there are many Africas": Exclusive interview with historian Dr Gérard Prunier
Prominent and outspoken academic Dr Gérard Prunier recently visited GCSP to deliver lectures and participate as a panelist in the GCSP-Geneva Peacebuilding Platform public discussion, "What is happening in the Central African Republic?". We had a chance to sit down with him to get his take on contemporary analysis of the African continent. The discussion quickly turned to the current situation in CAR and South Sudan.
SHARE
Lieutenant-Colonel Sandrine Attia
GCSP Alumna appointed Chief of Staff and Crisis Management Support in French Ministry of Environment
Lieutenant-Colonel Sandrine Attia has recently been appointed as Chief of Staff and Crisis Management Support at the French Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and Energy. She is a GCSP alumna, having participated in the Master of Advanced Studies in International and European Security (MAS/ITC) in 2007-2008.
ACT
UN Photo/Tobin Jones
"Risk management is about people and processes and not about models and technology." - Trevor Levine
Peacebuilding inherently implies engaging in an environment where conflict and violence are present or might potentially occur. We constantly weigh the risks of operating in such places to enhance the prospects for stability against the possibilities of physical and emotional trauma. This calls for a deliberate system of risk assessment, analysis, monitoring, management and response. Above all, risk assessment and analysis must take into account the local context. Threats in one area of a country may be vastly different than in another corner. Managing and responding appropriately to these varied risks must also then be tailored accordingly - again weighing humanitarian, political, economic or security priorities against the likelihood of harm to oneself or others.

ACTION POINT >> As practitioners in the conflict management field, how do we know when the risk is simply too great and overshadows the moral, political, humanitarian or social imperative to intervene in a conflict zone?