Expert Profile

Olivier Haener (MA in Modern History, Slavic Languages, CAS in Territorial governance) is a trained mediator (ETHZ), peacebuilding practitioner (GCSP) and personal and group coach (ICF). A former Political Analyst with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) for Western Balkans and CIS (political and conflict analysis, strategic advice, 2000-2008), he was a Policy Adviser with an EU mission (ICO/EUSR) in Mitrovica, Kosovo, supervising the implementation of the Ahtisaari plan at municipal level (2008-2009). Later, he conducted and published an empiric field research on the social, economic and perceptive causes of the Northern Kosovo conflict (2010-2011), conceived and conducted a field dialogue in the divided Mitrovica region, addressing the root causes of the conflict, with local actors (Swiss FDFA, swisspeace Mediation Program, 2012-2015). He recently conducted various mandates, including assessments, dialogue design and facilitation, strategic planning and drafting, for the Swiss FDFA, the GCSP or Kosovo NGOs). He is a member of the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peace-building of the FDFA, of the Swiss Federation of Mediators (FSM-SDM) and of the Swiss Evaluation Society (SEVAL). He is fluent in English, French, German and Serbo-Croatian, with a fair command of Russian, Spanish, Italian and Albanian.