In March 2026, Joane Holliger joined the Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD) of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) as Roving Human Security Adviser. In this role, she contributes to identifying and developing new opportunities for Switzerland’s good offices and peace promotion engagement, and provides strategic and operational support to peace, mediation and dialogue processes. She can be deployed at short notice to reinforce teams or respond to specific needs.
Previously, she was seconded to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sudan as a Mediation Adviser (2025). From 2021 to 2025, she worked with the Mediation Support Team/Project (MSP) at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, supporting peace processes and dialogue initiatives in the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Colombia. She also designed and facilitated negotiation and mediation trainings for professionals and parties directly involved in negotiation processes.
From 2018 to 2021, Joane Holliger worked for the FDFA as a Human Security Adviser in South Sudan, contributing to the South Sudanese peace process. Prior to that, from 2012 to 2018, she worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria and Uganda.
She holds a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Mediation in Peace Processes from ETH Zurich and a Master’s degree in Communications and Public Relations from the University of Leicester.
