Sabina Stein

Sabina Stein is a Senior Researcher and Deputy Head of the Mediation Support Team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. She works on the Mediation Support Project (MSP), a joint initiative of CSS and swisspeace supported by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). MSP strengthens Switzerland’s capacity to promote, support, and lead Track 1 mediation processes to prevent, manage and resolve violent conflict.

Sabina brings fifteen years of experience supporting political dialogue and peace processes with Switzerland and the United Nations, including assignments in Colombia, the Central African Republic, and Syria, as well as with the Mediation Support Unit of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs at UN Headquarters in New York. She also served as Senior United Nations Advisor with the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) and as Assistant Resident Representative for Governance and Participation with UNDP in Viet Nam.

Her work focuses on the design and facilitation of inclusive political processes at national and local levels, with particular expertise in mediation process design, civil society participation, engagement of non-state armed actors, conflict analysis, and capacity-building and training.

Sabina began her career with the CSS Mediation Support Team, contributing to the Culture and Religion in Mediation project (CARIM), where she worked on research and process design addressing the role of religious dynamics in conflicts in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Southern Thailand.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Master’s degree in Comparative and International Studies from the Center for Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich.