Published on 3 December 2025

Newsletter Editorials

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) publishes a newsletter every two months. The SDC newsletter provides an insight into Switzerland's international cooperation activities, which are aimed at alleviating poverty and suffering around the world, promoting human rights and democracy, and protecting the environment. The editorials are published in full on this page. Only an excerpt appears in the newsletter.

Christian Capacoel Guzmán
Head of Communication Management, SDC

• Editorial Newsletter 1/26

  A reset for humanitarian aid – what role will Switzerland play?

  There is a gulf between humanitarian needs and the funding available to meet them. According to projections for 2026, only 87 million of the 239 million people who depend on humanitarian aid will receive the essential supplies they need. This is more than just a funding crisis: humanitarian aid increasingly risks failing to meet its own objectives: alleviating suffering and ensuring the protection and dignity of people in need. International humanitarian law is also coming under pressure around the world – a development that is forcing the global humanitarian system to make fundamental changes.

  The UN is leading efforts to push the symbolic reset button and ensure the funding crisis does not become a crisis of legitimacy. The system must be made more agile, streamlined, responsible and effective. The aim is for it to be locally led, globally supported, and rooted in communities.

  This highly topical issue will be addressed at this year's International Cooperation Forum Switzerland (IC Forum), which brings together actors from politics, business, research and civil society to also offer insights from outside the humanitarian sector. The IC Forum aims to consider critical views, forge new partnerships and develop bold solutions to complex challenges. In doing so, it is setting in motion an urgently needed debate on the future of humanitarian aid and the role Switzerland will play in it.

  Follow developments at the IC Forum as they happen – including via live stream. Get an overview of the situation from Dominik Stillhart, the Federal Council's delegate for humanitarian aid, and learn what Switzerland is doing in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. You'll find all that and more in this SDC newsletter.

  Christian Capacoel Guzmán
  Head of Communication Management, SDC

  Back to newsletter 01/2026

• Editorial Newsletter 5/25

  Alleviating suffering and creating prospects: development cooperation and humanitarian aid in the pursuit of security and peace

  Switzerland does not stand idly by in the face of the unimaginable suffering experienced by people in crisis regions around the world. It contributes through international cooperation and humanitarian aid. The SDC coordinates and implements these efforts together with its partners – from local organisations on the ground and Swiss NGOs to the multilateral institutions of the UN. Switzerland's activities in Sudan and Gaza have recently received particular media attention. In both cases, efforts are to be stepped up/should be intensified or reinforced. However, the SDC provides continuous assistance worldwide to alleviate immediate suffering, mitigate the consequences at the international level and, above all, prevent suffering and insecurity from arising in the first place.

  Switzerland's support following Hurricane Melissa received less media attention. In Cuba and Haiti, specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit and the SDC provided support for the provision of emergency shelter, clean drinking water, medical care, psychosocial care and the containment of infectious diseases. Amidst the tragedy, there were brief moments of relief. For example, when it became apparent that measures to improve risk management had helped to mitigate the damage. The SDC provides long-term assistance in this area in Haiti.

  Switzerland's commitment to conflict prevention and peacebuilding is equally long-term. In the field of conflict prevention, the SDC focuses on water. This source of life quickly becomes a commodity with conflict potential when it is in short supply. Ernst Bromeis, guest on the SDC podcast, is a swimmer and activist who has dedicated himself to this issue. Among other things, he is the ‘water ambassador’ for the Blue Peace project supported by the SDC. Blue Peace is a vision for sustainable water management for the benefit of people, the planet, prosperity and peace.

  Following armed conflict, the SDC focuses on securing peace. Reconciliation and rebuilding mutual trust are the foundations for a secure peace. This ensures that the roads, bridges and squares that need to be repaired become safe and liveable. With its cultural programmes in Rwanda, the SDC is pursuing this approach of social cohesion. This gives local people prospects for the future and means they do not have to flee.

  Christian Capacoel Guzmán
  Head of Communication Management, SDC

  Back to newsletter 05/2025

• Editorial Newsletter 4/25

  International cooperation: a response to uncertainty and change

  The world in 2024 was marked by profound upheaval – geopolitical tensions, ongoing crises in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East. These were compounded by environmental disasters and economic uncertainty. In 2025, the crises continued and Switzerland suffered an environmental disaster with the glacier collapse in Blatten. Since the dissolution of USAID at the latest, uncertainty has also prevailed in international cooperation. Yet it is precisely in such uncertain times that reliable partnerships and long-term commitment matter most.

  Switzerland once again sent a clear message with its international cooperation last year. The annual report of the SDC and SECO documents how Switzerland's international cooperation is making an impact worldwide in the areas of basic services, the economy, peace and the environment.

  To understand how this commitment came about, we need to look back: 65 years ago, the Service for Technical Cooperation was founded – the origin of today's SDC. The SDC's digital timeline shows the individual milestones from 1944 to the present day. Following it, you can see how international cooperation is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the times. In the podcast, Professor Sacha Zala from the University of Bern explains how international cooperation has not only shaped Swiss foreign policy, but has also become an integral part of our national identity.

  But constant change also means looking to the future. Three students – Matilde Pozzi, Hanul Park and Sahar Bazaz – have explored what the future of international cooperation might look like. Matilde Pozzi reports on this in another episode of the podcast and offers insights into the next generation's vision of international cooperation. It is an inspiring contribution that highlights how the next generation thinks internationally, in an interconnected and solution-oriented way.
  This should give us hope, especially in a world that is responding to uncertainty by increasing military spending. If this comes at the expense of social security and cooperation, then even greater uncertainty threatens in the medium and long term. Security should be thought of holistically, especially in Switzerland, which as a small country has traditionally relied less on power politics and more on a rules-based international order. Strong international cooperation will therefore remain essential in the future.

  Past, present and future – this newsletter connects all three dimensions and invites reflection on Switzerland's role in the world, the power of cooperation and the responsibility we share.

  Christian Capacoel Guzmán
  Head of Communication Management, SDC

  Back to newsletter 04/2025

• Editorial Newsletter 3/25

  Constantly doing more with less is simply impossible. But can it be done better?

  The sustainable development agenda requires more resources. This realisation is not new. The mid-term review of the 2030 Agenda in 2022 made it clear: if the international community wants to achieve the goals it has set itself, it needs more – much more. Developing countries alone would require around four trillion US dollars a year. But the reality is different: Budgets for international cooperation are falling – in Switzerland too. The entire system of international cooperation is coming under increasing political pressure. The UN is a symbol of this. Founded in 1945, it unites practically every country in the world in the endeavour to create peace and prosperity for all.

  For a long time, the credo of development agencies was “we do more with less”. In view of growing global challenges and tight budgets, this seemed logical and was in line with the zeitgeist of greater efficiency. However, the discrepancy between aspiration and financial reality is now so great that the motto today is: “Less with less - but better.”. More focus, concentration on the essentials, reduction of duplication – these are the new guiding principles. The UN also wants and needs to reorganise itself. Its dozens of sub- and specialised agencies are to be assigned to four central areas in future:

  • peace and security
  • humanitarian
  • sustainable development
  • human rights.

  This is the aim of the UN's UN80 initiative, which also aims to merge long-established organisations. For example, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Organisation for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) could be merged to form a single unit for humanitarian aid.

  But how does the UN actually work? How do the various UN agencies around the world coordinate their activities? The SDC has published a new handbook in English to shed light on this. If you want to have a say, understand the system is a must. And that is exactly what this handbook aims to do.
  Switzerland also wants to have a say and help shape the UN. It will continue to support its multilateral partners so that they can fulfil their mandates. With a total package of CHF 269 million for 2026–2029, the Federal Council sent a strong signal in favour of international Geneva on 20 June. After all, these organisations are indispensable in a rules-based world order, which is in Switzerland's interests. For a small, export-orientated country like Switzerland, international rules form the basis for prosperity and security.

  Switzerland will therefore do the utmost to ensure that multilateral organisations continue and implement reform efforts. These organisations are indispensable for the functioning of international cooperation. They provide all actors - Swiss or local, state and civil society - with basic services in logistics and security, without which development cooperation or humanitarian aid would become an impossible task in many crisis regions.

  Christian Capacoel Guzmán
  Head of Communication Management, SDC

  Back to newsletter 03/2025

• Editorial Newsletter 2/25

  SDC provides fast, non-bureaucratic help in crisis situations

  It's 7.20am on 28 March in Bern. The SDC's on-call duty mobile phone displays the message ‘major earthquake in Myanmar’. 11.30am: the humanitarian aid crisis cell meet to assess the situation and decide how to respond. Later that day, Switzerland offers to assist Myanmar by sending specialists and relief to restore water supply, deliver basic medical care, and provide emergency shelters.

  Urgently needed funds were also provided to partner organisations in Myanmar. The response launched in Myanmar shows what the SDC's work is all about: fast, non-bureaucratic action backed up by extensive experience, reliable local partners, and a network that works in challenging environments to deliver long-term development cooperation combined with humanitarian aid.

  The SDC takes this approach in responding to situations all around the world.

  • Following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, the situation in Syria remains extremely uncertain. Given the overwhelming needs on the ground, Switzerland reaffirmed its support for Syria. At the Brussels Conference on Syria in mid-March, SDC director general Patricia Danzi pledged CHF 60 million to address Syria's most pressing needs and support a peaceful transition process.
  • Since the attack by the M23 group, the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has sharply deteriorated again, with 6.7 million people forcibly displaced. In response to the current situation, Switzerland is providing CHF 3 million in emergency aid for displaced persons.
  • In Afghanistan, a team of Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit specialists set up an office in Kabul in March, and got straight to work. Afghanistan is in the grip of one of worst crises in the world. Having a presence on the ground enables targeted assistance to be provided to vulnerable people. In Afghanistan, the SDC's work focuses on humanitarian aid, support for local civil society, especially for women and girls, and food security in rural areas.

  Whether responding to an immediate crisis or structural emergency, the SDC proves day in, day out that Switzerland will provide assistance where it is needed most. It helps people in need by bringing experience and vision to its international cooperation work and setting clear goals. When crises overwhelm countries with devastating consequences, including reduced global security, impacts on trade and prosperity, and displaced people, sooner or later we will feel the effects in Switzerland too.

  Christian Capacoel Guzmán
  Head of Communication Management, SDC

  Back to newsletter 02/2025

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• Organisational chart of the SDC

  PDF96.20 kB27 March 2026