Federal Administration admin.ch
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
SDC – on location worldwide

Visit Swiss Cooperation Office websites.

Switzerland
Switzerland 
Search under:
UNDP in brief

Established
 1965

Headquarters
New York

Bodies
 Representatives from five regional groups. 12 members from the WEOG (Western Europe and others Group, incl Switzerland); 24 members of the other regional groups

UNDP Administrator
Helen Clark (NZ)

Representation
 in 166 countries

Head count
About 8,000 worldwide

Financing
voluntary contribution (regular and project-tied contribution of donor countries as well as contribution by receiver countries for the co-financing of projects)

Budget 2009
USD 5.3 billion

Swiss 2011 contribution
 CHF 54 million

Link
www.undp.org

Mandate of the United Nations Development Programme

The UNDP has long been one of the most important partners for Swiss development cooperation. The UNDP plays a main role in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and in efforts to reform the UN system.

The main tasks of the UNDP

undp.gifThe UNDP is the UN’s central planning, financing and coordinating agency in the development sector. It works for sustainable human development in which the fight against poverty enjoys the greatest priority. The UNDP supports the development of capacities in partner countries in the following areas:

  • democratic governance
  • poverty reduction
  • environment and energy management
  • crisis prevention and transformation

Since 2000, the UNDP has led the campaign to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. The MDGs for example aim to reduce extreme poverty and hunger by at least half by the year 2015. Other goals aim at achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, improving health, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing global partnerships. The UNDP coordinates global and national efforts to achieve the goals and plays an essential role in the implementation process.

The UNDP publishes the annual Human Development Report, HDR, which deals with issues of global importance and highlights many aspects of development such as life expectancy, literacy, education and poverty. The report is considered one of the most important references in development policy.

The UNDP and Switzerland

The UNDP has long been one of the most important partners in the official development cooperation activities of Switzerland which has allocated CHF 54 million to the organization in 2011 putting it among the top 10 donor countries. The UNDP’s representation practically around the world and its huge network makes it a valuable complement to the bilateral development activities of Switzerland. In this way Switzerland can also contribute in places where it is not present. Besides the general annual Swiss contribution, there’s direct cooperation between the SDC Cooperation Offices and the UNDP on the ground in the respective partner country.

Switzerland is also active in administrative and staff matters. It is represented on the Executive Board on a rotating basis of “two years on, one year observer”. This participation enables Switzerland to take an active part in the planning and the monitoring of UNDP activities.

On the Executive Board, Switzerland works to have the UNDP take a more active role in the area of good governance, crisis prevention and management. Thanks to targeted recruiting strategies, a total of about 20 Swiss are working for the UNDP.

Additional Information and Documents