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SDC - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
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SDC at a glance

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is Switzerland’s international cooperation agency within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). In operating with other federal offices concerned, SDC is responsible for the overall coordination of development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe, as well as for the humanitarian aid delivered by the Swiss Confederation.

The SDC carries out its activities with an annual budget of CHF 1.4 billion (2008) and a staff of some 600 people in Switzerland and abroad, as well as 1000 local employees. The Agency undertakes direct actions, supports programmes of multilateral organizations, and helps to finance programmes run by Swiss and international aid organizations in the following areas:

Development Cooperation aims to alleviate poverty by helping people in partner countries help themselves. Development activities focus on promoting economic and government autonomy, improving production conditions, helping to solve environmental problems, and providing better access to education and basic health care for the most disadvantaged population groups.

Regional Cooperation directs the SDC’s bilateral cooperation with countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In reducing the number of its priority countries from the previous 17 to 12, and the number of its special programmes from 7 to 6, the SDC continues its geographic concentration of activities. The programmes being conducted in India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Ecuador, Peru, and North Korea will be terminated by 2012. The regional development banks are also considered as key partners in the domain of regional cooperation.

Global Cooperation is primarily active in the multilateral domain, cooperating with the organizations of the UN system and with the World Bank. By fostering programmes in the domain of climate change, food security, and migration, Global Cooperation makes its contribution to tackling global challenges.

Humanitarian Aid aims at saving lives and alleviating suffering. Direct relief is provided in the wake of natural disasters and in the context of armed conflicts, and humanitarian partner organizations receive both manpower and financial support. Humanitarian aid is made available wherever the need is greatest, with prevention, emergency aid, survival assistance, reconstruction and advocacy being the core areas of intervention. In 2008, Humanitarian Aid was active in five regions, including operations in the wake of the cyclone in Myanmar and deployment following the earthquake disaster in China. In the same year, 213 experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) were sent out on 297 missions.

Swiss cooperation with Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) supports democratic and market economy reforms in partner countries of Southeast Europe and the former Soviet Union. The main concerns in providing this transition assistance are the building of democratic institutions, the reform of health and social services, and the improvement of the environment. Cooperation with Bulgaria and Romania was phased out at the end of 2007. Since 2008, Switzerland has been implementing its so-called Enlargement Contribution aimed at reducing the social and economic disparities within the enlarged European Union. In fact, eight of the ten beneficiary countries are Central European States and Baltic Republics. The information events conducted in the partner countries have met with great interest. The first projects have already received approval from the Swiss side and are ready to be launched.

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