Since 1990, Swiss military observers have been deployed in various regions on behalf of the UN. As a part of international working teams, one of the tasks the military observers perform is to observe and report on the incidents that violate the missions mandates They also patrol areas where operations are carried out in order to monitor sensitive regions and obtain information from the local population relevant for assessing the security situation. Under the mandate, they may also con­duct meetings with the authorities and local armed forces or inspect their troops, weapons and ammunition in order to gain a comprehensive overview of the situation on the ground. Swiss military personnel also participate in various missions as staff officers, performing challenging tasks related to situ­ation assessment, operations, logistics and planning. Swiss military observers and staff officers are deployed in the Middle East, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Kashmir and the Western Sahara.