Africa Division
The Africa Division coordinates Switzerland’s international cooperation on the African continent. Through its programmes, it is committed to sustainably improving the living conditions of people in disadvantaged and fragile countries.
The Africa Division focuses on the poorest countries in Africa. Many of the countries and regions where it implements programmes are fragile or affected by conflict. Development cooperation, humanitarian aid and peacebuilding are combined in order to meet these challenges. The division coordinates its programmes with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and the Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
While humanitarian aid addresses the immediate and urgent needs of the population, development cooperation works towards longer-term positive change by helping to sustainably improve the living conditions of people in disadvantaged and fragile countries. These tools are used to increase the coherence, relevance and effectiveness of Switzerland’s international cooperation activities.
Priority topics in Africa include local economic development and job creation, food security, governance and conflict prevention. Depending on the context, programmes are also supported in the areas of basic and vocational education, migration and protection, health and access to water. In its activities, the SDC also takes into account climate-related risks and supports measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
In West Africa, the Africa Division runs programmes in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, as well as managing regional programmes. It also supports humanitarian activities in Nigeria.
In Eastern and Southern Africa, it implements programmes in Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and operates a two-country programme in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
In Central and North Africa, it runs programmes in Chad, Tunisia and Egypt, and is involved in a regional programme in the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya). It supports humanitarian projects in Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Morocco, Algeria and Libya, and implements projects in Eritrea.
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Contact
Eichenweg 5
3003 Bern