OSCE Secretary General, in Geneva, stresses importance of partnerships to tackle emerging challenges to security

The OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, on a visit to Geneva from 18 to 20 January 2012, emphasized the need to further develop partnerships between international organizations in maintaining peace and security and effectively tackling current and emerging threats.

“As the nature of security threats evolves, partnerships between international organizations, including regional and sub-regional ones, are increasingly important to efforts to maintain peace and security,” Zannier said at a public discussion on the changing nature of international partnerships at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Zannier, who named enhancing co-operation with other organizations a priority when he took up the post of OSCE Secretary General in July 2011, stressed that co-operation must build on respective mandates and strengths: “All organizations represented in Geneva – and the OSCE – have different tools to offer. Our goal should be to build on existing partnerships to create new synergies.”

During his visit to Geneva, Zannier is meeting with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger; Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva Kassym-Jomart Tokayev; Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy Fred Tanner; UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay; Director General of the International Organization for Migration William Lacy Swing; and with the Head of the Council of Europe and OSCE Section of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, David Best.