The different federal government departments are free to adopt their own implementation documents to ensure that Federal Council strategies are properly implemented at departmental level. These can take the form of guidelines, general guidance or action plans, for example. They form the third level of the cascading process.
The FDFA adopts its own implementation documents to ensure that Federal Council strategies are properly implemented at departmental level. Such documents are the following:
FDFA activities in the water sector address a variety of issues including access to basic sanitation and hygiene and mediation between riparian states for the peaceful, sustainable use of transboundary waters.
The Guidelines on Water set out principles, themes and priorities to ensure good coordination of a wide range of measures in humanitarian aid, development cooperation and peacebuilding – the three instruments of Switzerland's international cooperation.
Through its 2022–25 action plan for the OSCE, Switzerland seeks to identify measures which will help strengthen the organisation and rebuild European security. The action plan does not aim to cover Switzerland's entire policy within the OSCE; instead, it highlights those areas in which Switzerland can make a significant contribution by 2025.
Switzerland is actively involved in the Human Rights Council, raises human rights issues in political talks, and supports projects to strengthen human rights. These are just three examples of the instruments that Switzerland uses to promote the universal protection of human rights. This objective is articulated in the Foreign Policy Strategy 2020–23; the FDFA's Guidelines on Human Rights 2021−24 set out how it is to be achieved.
The General Guidance on the Private Sector in the context of the International Cooperation Strategy 2021–24 defines the parameters for activities by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in relation to the private sector. It explains the various forms of collaboration with private sector actors and outlines the opportunities and challenges associated with this form of engagement.
Switzerland is continuing its long-standing commitment to humanitarian mine action. In the new action plan, the FDFA and DDPS jointly set out three fields of action with goals and measures for the years 2023–26. The plan focuses not only on implementing the relevant conventions and support for the clearance of contaminated areas, but also on innovative approaches. In addition, Switzerland will provide targeted support to Ukraine in the coming years.
Last update 17.01.2024
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