Services & Consulting
The IRCC works in the area of consultancy and provides expertise for a number of partners.
The team has worked on all continents of the world and regularly advises international, governmental and non-governmental organisations on questions related to state organisation, decentralisation, democratisation and conflict resolution. Some examples of our work are listed below.
-
Reception of delegations
Each year, the IRCC hosts a number of international delegations and regularly arranges study tours. The IRCC also respond to calls regarding customised training or research.
-
Expertise by countries
Syria: The IRCC has been supporting the constitutional transition process in Syria since 2018. The IRCC has been consulted and has provided recommendations to multiple actors involved in the constitutional process. Specific topics in Syria include the constitutional framework, minority protection, and the role of Syrian NGOs in the constitutional process.
Iraq: The IRCC has drafted a commentary on the judgment of the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq (FSC) issued on 15 February 2022, which ruled that the Kurdistan Regional Government Oil and Gas Law No. (22) of 2007 is unconstitutional and must be repealed. The team has visited Iraqi Kurdistan multiple times to work on federalism and decentralisation in the region.
Balkans: The team has served as an international consultant for several programmes on decentralisation and good governance and is currently involved in processes of power-sharing debates in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. The IRCC has also been involved in drafting recommendations to stakeholders and facilitating consensual and integrative collaboration.
Armenia: The IRCC has been involved in 2022 in the evaluation of the Swiss cooperation project entitled “Improvement of the Local Self-Governance System in Armenia” (LSG). In partnership with a local expert, the IRCC is assessing the achievements of the Swiss contribution to the LSG project.
Myanmar: The team has been working extensively in Myanmar for many years, hosting delegations and supporting the federal debate. The IRCC has been involved in many courses to local civil servants prior to the military coup of 2021 and is still involved with local actors and activists, assessing for example the local administration or working on social service delivery by non-state actors in Myanmar during the Covid-19 crisis with partners in the field.
-
Expertise by type of organisations
International NGOs and international organisations: The IRCC is doing a consultancy for the Council of Europe to analyse legal provisions regulating the functioning of local authorities during the period of armed conflict in Ukraine and their alignment with the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.
NGOs and think tanks: The IRCC has drafted a policy paper on language in Switzerland to provide a portrait of the linguistic situation and key policies for the Forum of Federations. In Myanmar, the IRCC works with several NGOs on questions of federalism and democratisation.