Directorate General for Political Affairs and Security

Director General
Sandro De Bernardin

Deputy Director General/ Principal Director for Security, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Giovanni Brauzzi

Deputy Director General/ Principal Director for the United Nations and Human Rights Michele Baiano

Deputy Director General/Principal Director for the Countries of the Mediterranean and Middle East
Mauro Conciatori

Telephone 06 3691 2174
Fax 06 3691 4230
E-mail dgap.segreteria@esteri.it

Office I – UN System and reform, peacekeeping operations and preventive diplomacy

• Drafting of Italian policy with regard to the United Nations;
• drafting of budgetary policy and operational policy of UN organisations;
• coordination of Italy’s actions within the UN General Assembly and Security Council, relations with the UN Secretariat;
• reform of the UN system and its main bodies (Security Council reform, General Assembly Revitalisation, System-Wide Coherence);
• UN working groups in the EU;
• International Tribunals: relations with the Security Council and political profile of the questions under consideration, administrative and budgetary questions, support for Italian candidacies;
• peacekeeping operations and preventive diplomacy within the UN framework;
• Italian candidacies for election to organisational bodies and support for Italian candidates for senior positions in the Secretariat.
• UN institutions based in Italy, with special regard to the UN Staff College and Logistics Base in Brindisi (UNLB);
• payment of compulsory contributions to the Regular Budget, peace missions and international judicial bodies.

Office II – Human rights advocacy and international humanitarian law, Council of Europe

• Coordination of human rights concerns, EU working groups on human rights, relations with international agencies, organisations and bodies concerned with protecting human rights;
• social questions within the framework of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC);
• international humanitarian law issues and relations with the International Committee and Federation of the Red Cross;
• Council of Europe.

Office III – G8 political agenda and international cooperation against global threats, including terrorism, drugs and organised crime

• Political agenda for G8 Summit and Foreign Ministers’ and Political Directors’ meetings;
• international cooperation on combating organised crime, terrorism, corruption and narcotics trafficking within the framework of the UN, the EU (CFSP), the G8 and other specialised multilateral forums (the Dublin Group, the Paris Pact Initiative);
• Financial Security Committee (FSC).

Office IV – Atlantic Alliance, international security, strategic and political/military issues.

• Atlantic Alliance activities and Italy’s participation in the organisation;
• strategic security problems and political/military issues, with special regard to peacekeeping operations;
• multinational forces (European Gendarmerie, Euroforces, Multinational Land Force);
• Supreme Defence Council;
• activities of the Political-Military Steering Committee.

Office V – Disarmament and arms control; nuclear, biological and chemical non-proliferation; office of the National Authority for the Ban on Chemical Weapons

• Nuclear, bacteriological, chemical and conventional armaments: disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation (including the missile sector), counter-proliferation and confidence and security building (CSBM) policies, all within the context of the United Nations, the Conference on Disarmament, the EU (CFSP working groups), the G8 and regional organisations;
• Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE);
• coordination of initiatives in the framework of the humanitarian demining fund;
• liaison with the Directorate General for Promotion of the Country System on matters concerning the control and monitoring of transfers of weapons, dual use and sensitive materials and on the security of extra-atmospheric space;
• relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA);
• relations with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and tasks pursuant to Laws 496/1995 and 93/1997;
• relations with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) and tasks pursuant to Law 484/1998.

Office VI – Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Coordination of Italy’s OSCE activities: relations with the Presidency and Secretariat, Permanent Council;

• Coordination of Italy’s OSCE activities: relations with the Presidency and Secretariat, Permanent Council;
• Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) – human dimension – election observation, High Commissioner for National Minorities;
• Forum for Security Cooperation, Confidence and Security Building Measures (CSBM) – Vienna Document;
• preventive diplomacy and crisis management, Court of Conciliation and Arbitration;
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE working groups in the EU (CFSP).

Office VII – Countries of the Maghreb and Euro-Mediterranean policies
Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia;

• Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia;
• Euro-Mediterranean policies, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership;
• Mediterranean Forum;
• Process of Cooperation in the Western Mediterranean (5+5 Dialogue);
• Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).

Office VIII – Countries of the Near East and Arab League

Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian National Authority, Peace Process;
Arab League.

Office IX – Countries of the Gulf and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen;
Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), EU–GCC Dialogue.

CFSP / CSDP Unit – Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)

• Office of the European Correspondent, preparation for the Foreign Affairs Council;
• the EU’s political dialogue with Third Countries;
• preparation for the Political and Security Committee of the European Union;
• CFSP: formulation, implementation and follow-up, coordination on specific issues;
• European Parliament activities regarding CFSP issues;
• CSDP: coordination of Italy’s participation in crisis management operations within the EU framework;
• EU election observation;
• COREU/CORTESY communications network.

Unit for the Countries of North America.

Canada, United States, NAFTA.

Unit for the Russian Federation, and the Countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia

Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

Unit for Afghanistan and the regional dimension