OrganizationPublished on 1 April 2025

Humanitarian Aid and Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) Division

The SDC’s humanitarian mandate is to save lives and alleviate suffering. The Humanitarian Aid and Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) Division is committed to protecting the interests of vulnerable population groups before, during and after a conflict, crisis or natural disaster. Members of the SHA carry out these activities in the field.

The Humanitarian Aid and SHA division carries out its mandate via projects known as direct actions and through financial contributions or the secondment of SHA members to United Nations (UN) partners and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

It also manages the SDC’s rapid response missions in emergency situations and provides expertise to the entire SDC in a number of humanitarian fields: water, sanitation and hygiene, disaster risk reduction, protection of the civilian population, cash assistance, education in emergencies, reconstruction work and geographic information systems (GIS). The division assists the SDC in implementing projects thanks to the SHA’s expertise (direct actions) and liaises between the SHA and SDC’s other divisions – geographic, multilateral, thematic – as well as Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and Federal Administration units. It also oversees all finance-related matters and coordinates strategic and communication processes.

In addition, the division is responsible for human resources management within the SHA (recruitment, training and deployment). The SHA is a pool of active professionals who can be mobilised at short notice. There are currently 550 members. In the event of a crisis or natural disaster, SHA members are selected and deployed to the affected areas. This is managed by the Humanitarian Aid and SHA division, which is also in charge of the HR processes for SHA members on medium and long-term missions in fragile contexts. This applies to both direct actions and missions supporting UN partners.

The division also has a logistics section that manages, maintains and procures technical equipment for all humanitarian missions as well as related issues for mission personnel. The section coordinates the mobilisation and deployment of rescue teams and also dispatches aid supplies. It functions as a centre of expertise for all matters relating to logistics and international transport by air or sea. The section operates around the clock during emergency response missions. It has extensive expertise in the fields of medical, chemical and rescue equipment, vehicles, machinery, as well as information and communication technologies (ICT). It also provides its services to other SDC and FDFA divisions as and when requested.