Whether the environment, business and trade, migration, or institutional development: the international community faces immense challenges. Now, 15 years after it officially joined the UN, Switzerland, too, must re-examine its global role: Does it wish to act as a bridge builder for a better world? How does it help enable real solutions? At the 1st Swiss-UN Day on 23 March 2018, representatives from science, policy, international organizations, and civil society met at the University of Bern to discuss the way forward.
Held roughly 15 years after Switzerland officially joined the UN, the first “Swiss-UN Day” was organized jointly by the World Trade Institute (WTI) and the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) – two centres of excellence of the University of Bern – together with the United Nations Association Switzerland (Gesellschaft Schweiz-UNO). Panellists included over 20 representatives from diplomacy, international organizations, science, and civil society.