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Mona Koehler-Schindler>
16 May 2022
Mona Koehler-Schindler works as an Associate Human Rights Officer on Anti-Terrorism Issues at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
Prior to joining ODIHR, she served as a member of NATO’s International Staff in Afghanistan and Belgium. From 2017 to 2019, she worked as a Political Advisor to the NATO Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan, providing political assessments and supporting civil-military cooperation in the country. Before that, she served in different capacities at NATO headquarters in Brussels, including in the Counter-Terrorism Section, the Science for Peace and Security Programme and the Strategic Analysis Capability Centre. Previously, Mona worked amongst others for the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) in the Police Programme Africa, focusing on security sector reform in the counter-terrorism context.
Mona holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Aberdeen and is currently enrolled in our Executive Master on the International Law of Armed Conflict.
In this interview, she tells about the programme, online learning and what this will bring to her career.
Mona Koehler-Schindler
UK in Austria
Following different assignments with NATO, I’m currently working for the OSCE/ODIHR in the field of human rights and countering terrorism. The Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict allows me to complement my practical knowledge of international security and defence policy with the theoretical concepts of international law.
The programme combines high-quality education with state-of-the-art research on emerging challenges. My personal highlights are the courses on international humanitarian law (IHL), the interplay between IHL and international human rights law (IHRL), and the sharing of experiences with other participants who work in the field.
It works much better than I thought! The programme is very well prepared and communication by the Geneva Academy is excellent which makes it much easier.
I will admit it takes some time to find a routine at the beginning but the Geneva Academy is very much aware of the challenges we face and is very flexible and supportive in this regard.
The Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict allows me to strengthen my understanding of international law, in particular IHL and IHRL, and thereby complements my practical experience of working in the security policy field.
Absolutely! This programme is an opportunity to learn the legal framework of armed conflict while maintaining a job simultaneously.
News
Applications for the upcoming academic year of our Online Executive Master – MAS in International Law in Armed Conflict - are now open. They will remain open until 30 May 2025, with courses starting at the end of September 2025.
News
Each year, the Geneva Academy sends a team of students to the Jean-Pictet Competition. Participating in this leading moot court is a life-changing experience and an integral part of our programmes.
Event
Wikimedia
In this Geneva Academy Talk Judge Lətif Hüseynov will discuss the challenges of inter-State cases under the ECHR, especially amid rising conflict-related applications.
Event
ICRC
Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.
Training
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.
Project
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.
Project
UNAMID
This project will develop guidance to inform security, human rights and environmental debates on the linkages between environmental rights and conflict, and how their better management can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.
Publication
Publication
Geneva Academy ICRC
