Swiss diplomat Pascale Baeriswyl: She fights for peace at the highest level

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The oversized pistol with a button in the barrel that stands in front of the UN building in New York symbolically fits perfectly with the work of Pascale Baeriswyl. “Preventing conflict is a priority in the Security Council,” said the 55-year-old. Since the beginning of 2023, the Basel resident has been the Swiss face of the powerful UN Security Council.

In New York she sits in the ‘Norwegian Hall’ together with representatives of the permanent superpowers China, France, Great Britain, Russia, the US and the other nine elected council members. Decisions about peace and war can be made there and are binding on all states in the world. For example, the Security Council can send blue helmet troops for a peace mission, impose economic sanctions or even have an army of a UN state intervene in a war.

“We give women and young people a better voice”

“The Security Council is the thermometer of the situation in the world,” says Baeriswyl. For them, the two-year mandate means two to five meetings per day – about 800 per year. If it is urgent, members only have 24 hours to comment. This also includes obtaining instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bern, which always makes the final decision. In addition, there is a lively diplomatic exchange via Twitter, WhatsApp & Co.

But what can Switzerland do in the Security Council? “Every day, in every debate and in every negotiation, we work to ensure compliance with international law. Sometimes it is possible to include this in binding resolutions. For example, in October the Council decided on a new police mission for Haiti. Or we can give women and young people a better voice in the council,” says Baeriswyl, who dreamed of becoming a diplomat at the age of 16.

Here in New York, Switzerland does a lot of bridging work. “In the war in the Middle East, it is elected council members, including Switzerland, who repeatedly bring world powers to the table to find solutions.” In the field of prevention, Switzerland recently succeeded in expanding its stabilizing peace mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Guests from all over the world at home

Baeriswyl grew up in the multicultural St. Johann district of Basel, not far from the German and French borders. Her father works in international rail freight transport. “Guests from all over the world came and went to our house, which fascinated me.”

The former judge started her career at the FDFA at the age of 32 – as the first female diplomat with two small children. She works at the Swiss embassy in Vietnam and at the EU embassy in Brussels. Her husband is a computer specialist and often takes care of the children through his home office.

In 2016, the lawyer returned to Switzerland – becoming the first woman to become State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2019, she moved from her home on the Basel Rhine to New York’s East River, where she was appointed the new head of Switzerland’s permanent mission to the UN. The seat on the Security Council is the crowning achievement of Baeriswyl’s career.

What concerns you particularly about that? “There is a global crisis of trust and truth: our rules and values ​​are being questioned.” However, the states have given themselves the common basis for action: with the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Conventions. These are the rules that make safety and well-being possible.

“Solidarity is needed”

We must now find our way back to compromises between states, so that in addition to short-term interests, they also keep the well-being of everyone in mind in the medium term: ‘Solidarity is necessary’, is their conclusion.

Recently, Baeriswyl decided to perform a personal act of peace: after the top diplomat and her team had spent weeks fighting over words in the Security Council – sometimes day and night and with fierce fighting between world powers – she invited her 14 colleagues to her home for one fondue.

Before dinner she plays the jazz ballad ‘Search for Peace’ with a band on the saxophone – symbolically reminiscent of the Swiss mandate on the Security Council. “Music does not bring peace, but it can unite people across their differences. I believe in that.”

Source:Blick