How does Switzerland put its commitment to international cooperation into practice?

The SDC is responsible for coordinating Switzerland's development cooperation and humanitarian aid activities. It has a variety of instruments at its disposal to carry out these tasks: 

• Multilateral development cooperation

• Bilateral development cooperation

• Swiss Humanitarian Aid and the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA)

• Cooperation with Eastern Europe and the CIS

International cooperation encompasses a broad range of mutually complementary tasks that have been undertaken in response to widely different challenges. Cooperation with Eastern Europe, for example, emerged in response to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The former socialist states needed support in transforming their centrally controlled systems into market economies and democracies (transition). Swiss Humanitarian Aid focuses its activities on the provision of life-saving aid during emergency situations and post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. While the Global Cooperation Department addresses global challenges such as climate change and food security, the South Cooperation Department improves access to jobs, income, education and healthcare for disadvantaged population groups and promotes sustainable economic growth.

Bilateral cooperation refers to development cooperation at project and programme level and the support provided to partner countries on the ground. The nature and methods of bilateral development cooperation have changed considerably in recent years. For example, new forms of cooperation have emerged, including coordinated action between multiple donors and earmarked contributions to state budgets to be used for specific purposes, for example healthcare. By providing expertise, technology and financing, Switzerland helps developing countries find effective solutions to their problems. But it is up to the partner countries themselves to carry out most of the work.

As global challenges that cannot be addressed at national level become increasingly significant, multilateral cooperation is also becoming more and more important as a complement to bilateral cooperation. 

Multilateral cooperation refers to Switzerland's involvement in institutions such as the UN, the World Bank, regional development banks and global networks. Switzerland mainly works with 13 multilateral organisations and five multilateral humanitarian aid organisations. These organisations have the required size as well as recognised expertise and proven advantages in coordinating and implementing international measures. Concentrating on selected organisations allows Switzerland to monitor these institutions efficiently and to engage in productive dialogue with them. 

Switzerland is represented in the most important multilateral development banks and organisations. It is a member of their governing bodies and participates in the development of global standards.

Switzerland selects the organisations with which it collaborates based on four criteria:

1. Switzerland's economic and foreign policy interests

2. The organisations' relevance to Switzerland's development policy

3. The results achieved by the organisations

4. The organisations' ability to influence policies and strategies

Multilateral cooperation is an important instrument of Swiss development cooperation. Some 22% of the funds go to multilateral organisations in the form of general financial assistance (core contributions). Bilateral cooperation accounts for 78% of the funding, one-fifth of which is used for bilateral local projects of multilateral organisations.

Multilateral cooperation

Different needs require different expertise and different skills. Switzerland makes every effort to ensure that its development cooperation is effective. That is why it commissions specialised partner organisations on the ground or in Switzerland to carry out its projects. Research, assessments and international coordination also require different capabilities. Switzerland strives to work with the most competent partners – from small aid agencies to large UN agencies – in every area.

Switzerland carries out development cooperation activities in collaboration with various partners, including UN agencies, aid agencies and the private sector. These partnerships can offer different advantages depending on the context. In some cases Switzerland is simply too small to implement projects and programmes on its own. In other cases, it is more appropriate to work with local organisations that know more about the local situation and have a good local network. Another frequent reason for working together with large organisations or the private sector is to ensure that the resources deployed achieve greater leverage. 

Partnerships and mandates

Economic growth is a prerequisite for development and prosperity. But growth alone does not reduce economic and social disparities and occurs all too often at the expense of the environment. In order to promote sustainable development, Switzerland enters into partnerships with the private sector (public-private partnerships or PPPs). 

For the last decade or so, the SDC has increasingly been working with partner companies, especially Swiss companies. Many of these companies operate worldwide and want to see greater integration of the poor into markets. Viable public-private partnerships require creating win-win situations that promote development and at the same time further the long-term interests of companies. In all public-private partnerships the SDC pays particular attention to ensuring that its partners respect human rights.

Public-private partnerships for development for a greater impact

To carry out its mandate, the SDC also relies on the expertise and experience of specialised organisations. In Switzerland, the SDC maintains partnerships with NGOs that have a successful, long-term track record, proven capabilities, substantial knowledge and their own financial resources, and are firmly established in Swiss society. These partnerships contribute to the qualitative development of Switzerland's international cooperation and increase public awareness of humanitarian and development policy issues. The SDC works together with local, international and Swiss NGOs depending on the particular context.

The SDC's approach to cooperating with NGOs is two-fold:

Mandates

The SDC defines tasks such as implementing a programme or a project, or providing thematic and technical advice, and commissions specialised NGOs to carry out these tasks. Mandates are awarded through public calls for tender, with NGOs bidding for the contracts.

Contributions

The SDC supports activities planned and carried out by NGOs under their own responsibility and in accordance with their core skills and capacities. Contributions of this kind are programme contributions.

Partnerships with NGOs

Switzerland's development cooperation focuses on specific priority countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Activities in these countries are focused on a limited number of thematic areas (water, professional skills development, health, good governance, etc.). Swiss cooperation offices, which are in regular communication with governments and civil society stakeholders in partner countries and with other donors on the ground, are responsible for implementing the SDC's programmes in priority countries.

The SDC's priority countries and regions 2017

The Dispatch on Switzerland's International Cooperation adopted by Parliament defines the priority countries for Switzerland's international cooperation. Switzerland selects the countries based on various criteria such as identified needs (poverty, vulnerability to crises, etc.), good governance, the added value of the Swiss contribution and the probability that cooperation will be successful. 

Need

The SDC works in countries and regions which are among the poorest in the world and which are also the most vulnerable to political, social and environmental crises. 

Capabilities and potential

The SDC works with countries that offer favourable conditions and comply with good governance principles (rule of law, democracy, human rights). 

Comparative advantages

The SDC is active in countries and thematic areas where its long-standing experience allows it to bring real added value. It is therefore active in areas such as health and education, water, microfinancing, the protection of minorities and the strengthening of institutions that ensure the rule of law. 

Switzerland's political interests

Geographic priority areas are also determined based on long-term political interests, their political acceptability within Switzerland, and a preference for continuous long-term cooperation. 

The SDC has cooperation programmes with about one third of the world's poorest countries. There is a fine balance between Switzerland's interest in maintaining good relations with all countries (universality) and the need to achieve a critical mass that ensures efficient use of resources (concentration).

The SDC's priority countries and regions 2017

The support provided to individual countries depends on various factors, such as their level of development. But Switzerland is not only active in the world's poorest countries: to respond to global challenges like climate change Switzerland also takes part in programmes with a global reach and is therefore active in a number of middle-income countries.

As at 31 December 2016, the SDC supported 1,128 projects and SECO 320. Swiss development cooperation therefore supported a total of 1,448 projects. Projects range from small to large in scale, depending on needs. At the end of 2016, for example, the SDC ran 371 large-scale projects (valued at over CHF 5 million), and SECO ran 145 large-scale projects.

Information on all Swiss development cooperation projects is available online:

Project database