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Why should we care about international cooperation? This is a pressing question. Given the international crises, conflicts and the threatened Sustainable Development Goals, it is also relevant for Swiss citizens. Hear and see some possible answers.

This initiative aims to improve maternal and child health services and ensure that essential medicines are available. To address the shortage of skilled personnel, the project includes a component dedicated to training health professionals, particularly midwives.

Beyond maternal and child health, the project also aims to improve epidemic prevention and surveillance.
The DRC experiences recurring epidemics (cholera, measles, malaria, Ebola). With more than 18,000 confirmed cases and over 1,700 deaths between January 2024 and March 2025, the DRC is the country most affected by the Mpox virus. Through this project, Switzerland is supporting the fight against this virus by strengthening surveillance, promoting healthy behaviour and providing medical kits.

The DRC is one of the five poorest countries in the world. Switzerland's commitment is focused on the east of the country, particularly North and South Kivu, where armed conflict has intensified since January 2025, worsening the humanitarian situation and causing the displacement of thousands of people. In response to this crisis, Switzerland released CHF 3 million in February and an additional CHF 2 million in May 2025.

Further information:
The portal of the Swiss government: Switzerland launches project to reduce maternal and infant mortality in DRC

Website FDFA: Humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Switzerland provides CHF 3 million

The SDC also provided assistance in Syria in response to the crisis in Lebanon, working in particular with the UNHCR, OCHA and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement via the Swiss Red Cross. The humanitarian office in Damascus continued its activities. The SDC launched an early recovery programme in collaboration with a consortium of four international NGOs and five UN organisations. The programme addresses the needs of the Syrian population in terms of income, livelihoods, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene.

In light of this humanitarian situation, Switzerland continues to advocate for unhindered humanitarian access, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and a lasting ceasefire. Another priority is strict compliance with international law, including in the West Bank, where violence is escalating and illegal settlements are hindering peace. Switzerland supports a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with international law for peace and stability in the Middle East.

Further information:
Website FDFA: Situation in the Middle East
Website SDC: Occupied Palestinian territory and Near East

Coffee is one of the world's most important agricultural products and provides a livelihood for around 100 million people, mainly in Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia.

With a share of over 50% of the global coffee trade, Switzerland is the world's largest trading centre for coffee. It is also one of the largest exporters of roasted coffee. Positive changes in Switzerland will therefore have an impact beyond the country's borders.

SSCP members want to help improve conditions in coffee-growing regions on three levels:   

• Economic: Farming families should be able to earn a living income.  

• Social: The coffee industry should guarantee that producers have fair working conditions as well as access to education and healthcare, and eliminate the risk of human rights violations.  

• Ecological: The coffee industry should protect forests, support reforestation and reach net zero emissions.

To achieve these goals, the SSCP promotes dialogue and collaboration among all stakeholders along the value chain. In a classic value chain, farmers plant the coffee trees, harvest the cherries and sometimes carry out the initial processing steps.

Once the green coffee has been dried and hulled, traders and exporters ship it to international markets. Importers then transport the coffee to roasters, who blend, roast, grind and package it. Finally, distributors and retailers deliver the final product to consumers via cafés, restaurants, supermarkets and retail chains.

Further information:
Website: Swiss Sustainable Coffee Platform

In Ukraine, it launched the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Mental Health for Ukraine” in 2018, which supports the reform of psychiatric care in Ukraine and the establishment of regional mental health centres. The project is run in tight cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities, the Ukrainian Catholic University and Swiss mental health experts from the Psychiatric University Hospital in Zurich and the University of Zurich.

In Burundi – and Ukraine too –qualified personnel in the field of mental health and psychosocial support is hard to come by. There are very few psychiatrists and psychologically trained professionals, which makes it difficult to provide adequate care. One focus of the project supported by Switzerland is on promoting skills in dealing with mental illness through in-service training for doctors and nursing staff.

Further information SDC: 
Mental Health: A Neglected Component of Peace
Mental health: a cornerstone of lasting peace

Hurricane Mitch (1998) devastated cocoa-growing areas and caused severe damage to agricultural infrastructure. With the help of the international community and government programmes, cocoa plantations were rebuilt in the following years. Thanks in part to Swiss support for the public-private initiative PROCACAHO, which focuses on the cocoa value chain, the sector has recovered and now produces significantly more cocoa of higher quality. It is also able to compete on international premium markets.

The PROCACAHO programme has played a crucial role in driving this development.
According to Walter Reithebuch, the SDC representative in Honduras, the national committee has been pivotal in streamlining efforts and enhancing the sector's governance. «Collaboration between producers, cooperatives, government and private companies such as Halba, one of Switzerland's largest chocolate producers, has been crucial to the progress we have seen», says Reithebuch.

The sector's growth has been remarkable, not only in terms of production but also in its economic and social impact. In 2023, Honduras exported 1,600 tonnes of cocoa, directly benefiting more than 4,500 families. «Without the programme, we would not have made this progress», says Francisco Lopez, a cocoa producer from the San Fernando Cooperative (Omoa). Exports to markets such as Switzerland, the United States and the Netherlands have been key to this growth. «The quality of Honduran cocoa is recognised worldwide, and that opens many doors for us», concludes Lopez.

Given the boom of the last 10 years, the future of the sector looks bright. Producers are prepared for the opportunities arising from high world market prices and increasing demand for high-quality cocoa. A representative of the San Fernando Cocoa Cooperative describes this as an unparalleled moment in the sector's history. «We are breaking production and export records, and we believe in the future of the sector», he adds.
Challenges remain, particularly climate phenomena and infrastructure. «It is vital to continue investing in the sector to maintain this growth», concludes Melvin Fajardo.

«The quality of Honduran cocoa has improved significantly.» says Luis Regalado, Director of Halba. The sector's infrastructure has also been improved. «Adequate infrastructure has been key to ensuring the quality of cocoa.» adds Luis Regalado. Inclusion was another pillar of the programme. Approximately 42% of management positions were held by women and 450 young people were supported in entrepreneurial ventures. «The participation of women and young people is essential for the sustainability of the sector», says Mariela García from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

Further information:
Website HALBA: Sustainability from cultivation to enjoyment

Ukraine has been a priority country for Swiss international cooperation since the 1990s. The Federal Council decided. in April 2024 to step up its support for Ukraine and its reconstruction efforts. It plans to provide CHF 5 billion in support between 2025 and 2036. The 2025–28 country programme marks the start of this commitment. The programme focuses on three priority areas.

Switzerland promotes private sector development and the reconstruction of urban and war-damaged infrastructure.

For example, Switzerland has helped to modernise a local district heating network in the city of Zhytomyr. A new heating plant fuelled by wood chips has replaced the old gas-fired boilers.

Switzerland is supporting the Ukrainian authorities in providing basic services and involving local and regional authorities in the reconstruction process. To this end, the Federal Council is providing a total of CHF 58.7 million for the e-governance for accountability and participation programme, which has been running since 2015, for the period from 2024 to 2028. One focus is on the digitalisation of public administration, for example through the Diia app, which gives over 20 million people access to government services. The Ukrainian authorities presented the project in Zurich on 29 May 2024.

The Swiss private sector is to play a key role in Ukraine's reconstruction. Around CHF 500 million has therefore been earmarked for measures to integrate the Swiss private sector more closely into the reconstruction process. Swiss companies can contribute expertise and high-quality products that will benefit Ukraine.

Further information:
Website FDFA: Newsticker Ukraine
Website SDC: Ukraine
Website: Switzerland+Ukraine

Business organisations strengthen the position of SMEs. Switzerland is therefore involved in a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project that supports Ukrainian business organisations in creating better economic conditions for SMEs. The associations help companies to learn from each other and develop further. They also represent companies in dialogue with the government.

Three examples

The war has made it crucially important that Ukrainian SMEs can export their products, yet it is almost impossible for companies to enter foreign markets on their own. This is why the UNDP project supports the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers, for example, in strategically focusing on exports. The association has created the Furniture of Ukraine brand and made it internationally visible. It trains and advises its members, organises trade fair appearances abroad and helps its members to position themselves on European markets. The result so far: more than 50 new export contracts for Ukrainian furniture manufacturers, including with IKEA and XXXLutz.  
 

The Women in Business platform supports companies run by women. Female entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly important role in the Ukrainian business world, particularly due to the war – yet inequalities still prevent women from participating in economic life on an equal footing. Women in Business provides novice businesswomen with mentors who advise and train them and help them to build up their own support networks.
The Women in Business platform supports companies run by women. Female entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly important role in the Ukrainian business world, particularly due to the war – yet inequalities still prevent women from participating in economic life on an equal footing. Women in Business provides novice businesswomen with mentors who advise and train them and help them to build up their own support networks.  

The Union of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine has introduced standards to ensure sustainable tourism in times of war. Forty-two Ukrainian tourism companies have already adopted the standards, which guarantee the quality of tourist services and also offer psychological support for guests and hosts.

Further information SECO:
Ukraine

Cuba

Switzerland had been engaging in cooperation with Cuba since 2000. New approaches to local administration and rural development emerged, some of which have even been incorporated into national legislation. For example, the 2019 Cuban constitution recognised municipal autonomy, the role of civil society actors and direct participation of the population for the first time. Local food production was also strengthened, as was the establishment of private sector organisations – a novelty for the country.

Haiti

Following the political crisis in 2004 and severe natural hazards in 2005, Switzerland launched a humanitarian programme in Haiti. In the years that followed, the country was repeatedly hit by severe natural hazards.Switzerland subsequently supported the construction of earthquake-proof schools, emergency shelters and residential buildings. Together with local partners, it developed construction methods, training programmes and standards that are now enshrined in Haiti's building regulations. International development banks now use these Swiss models as a benchmark when financing social infrastructure projects in the country.

Bolivia

Since the 1980s, Switzerland promoted local participation in Bolivia. Through decentralisation and citizen participation programmes, disadvantaged groups, especially indigenous communities, were more closely involved in political processes – an important contribution to democracy in a society marked by inequality. Over the past two decades, the focus was also on promoting agriculture and securing incomes for smallholder farmers. At the same time, projects were implemented to increase resilience to climate change and improve governance.

Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, Switzerland contributed significantly to improving living conditions through its support in the area of water and sanitation. Across the past two decades, cooperation was focused on access to clean water, sanitation and protection against climate-related natural hazards.

The approach, which involved planning and implementing projects together with local communities, proved particularly effective. Women and young people played an important role in this process. Their active participation was crucial to ensuring the long-term viability of the projects.

Honduras

Switzerland’s activities in Honduras stretch back to 1981. Working with local authorities and private partners, it supported the cultivation and marketing of cocoa, coffee and shrimp. Between 2013 and 2017, this created around 30,000 new jobs. The cocoa sector in particular experienced an upswing in recent years. Fairly produced chocolate from Honduras has found a market and is now also available in Swiss supermarkets. Swiss development cooperation also provided impetus in the area of good governance.

Conflicts and crises in various countries, climate and environmental risks, social inequalities: the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean face numerous  challenges. Switzerland will continue to work in partnership to contribute to development in the region through economic measures, political dialogue, cooperation in multilateral organisations, human rights policy, democracy and peace promotion, humanitarian aid and areas where Switzerland can add value with its expertise, such as climate change, water and disaster prevention.

Further information SDC:
60 years of successful cooperation 
Latin America and the Caribbean

In order to strengthen Mongolia's resilience in the long term, Switzerland remained active even after the emergency aid, for example with the “Green Gold” project. The name refers to the grasslands that are so valuable for nomadic livestock farming. However, overgrazing threatened to turn it into a wasteland. Together with 92,000 nomadic families, authorities and other partners, Switzerland developed sustainable grazing plans for an area about five times the size of Switzerland. Training in grazing management helped many families to secure their income and better equip themselves to cope with crises.

The conclusion of bilateral cooperation with Mongolia in 2024 does not signify a withdrawal, but rather a transition to new forms of partnership. In order to secure the progress achieved, the projects were handed over to Mongolian institutions at an early stage. Swiss partner organisations also remain active in the country. This approach promotes ownership and strengthens local solutions. Switzerland remains connected to Mongolia through international programmes and thematic initiatives – as a reliable partner on equal terms. 

Further information:
Website SDC: Best Practices from Mongolia

The Mongolian climate is harsh, with a short vegetable-growing season of only four months. It is one of the reasons that it stopped cultivating vegetables entirely under its socialist planned economy. "After the break-up of the Soviet Union the country was entirely dependent on imports," says Stephanie Burri, head of the SDC office in Mongolia. In 2004 the SDC began to help Mongolia grow potato varieties adapted to its climate. The country is now self-sufficient in potatoes and thus no longer depends on its neighbours Russia and China for this important crop.

This success is also being felt in producers' wallets, with the average annual income for a vegetable-cultivating household rising by almost 14% between 2020 and 2023. What's more, Mongolia's schools, and kindergartens in particular, have been encouraging healthy eating. Children, parents and teachers have come together to create school kitchen gardens under the expert instruction of specially trained staff. It is now taken for granted that vegetables will be a part of the children's meals.

The SDC has been running programs in Mongolia since 2001. The extreme cold of that year killed 21 million livestock and cost 14,000 herders their livelihoods. The SDC provided emergency assistance and successfully supported sustainable animal and arable farming in the years that followed. Alongside this work it also expanded its engagement in democracy, human rights and gender equality in the country.

After 20 years of fruitful partnership, Switzerland will wind down its bilateral development cooperation with Mongolia by the end of 2024. It will phase out its engagement in a responsible manner and ensure that results achieved to date will be preserved. Future partnerships and other forms of support remain on the table in areas such as climate change, humanitarian aid, policy development and trade.

Further information:
SDC website: Green gold: livelihoods in Mongolia
SDC website: 20 years Mongolia
Spotify SDC Podcast: "Das mongolische Kartoffel-Projekt" (de)

Air pollution in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar is among the highest of any city in the world. "The pollutants that we inhale here every day are the equivalent of five to six packets of cigarettes," reports the national online portal News.mn. In the winter, when temperatures drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius, city residents burn 600,000 tonnes of raw coal for heating and cooking. It makes the air hazy and hurts the lungs.

As part of the same project the SDC and its partners developed the Cooking, Heating and Insulation Products (CHIP) package as a convenient and affordable alternative to coal-fired stoves. Some 6% of families in Mongolia's urban areas are now able to benefit from this clean technology, and with it smoke-free homes. At the same time, they are helping to protect the climate.

Air pollution is an enormous problem not only in Mongolia, but around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in eight deaths is the result of breathing polluted air. That is the equivalent of seven million people. And that is only the effect on health. Air pollution also impacts on the economy and the climate. After carbon dioxide, pollutants such as soot, methane and fluorinated hydrocarbons are the biggest contributors to global warming, and responsible for half of current climate change.

For over 30 years Switzerland has been sharing its experience with air pollution control and supporting its partner countries in combating air pollution. It also contributes this expertise to the international dialogue on joint efforts to tackle the challenges of climate change and air pollution.

SDC engagement ranges from monitoring air quality to clean air action plans and getting businesses to switch to alternative sources of energy. From Latin America to China, its priorities include controlling air pollution from traffic through the use of particle filters, and the introduction of norms and standards for vehicle emissions and fuel quality.

Further information:
SDC website: Breathing new life into Mongolia: Addressing air pollution challenges
SDC newsletter: Clean air for all

Besides Blue Peace, Switzerland also supports the Water Convention, the BRIDGE program, and the Coalition for Transboundary Water Cooperation, while partnering with organizations such as the Geneva Water Hub, IUCN, OSCE, the World Bank, and UNECE.

At the 2023 UN Water Conference, Switzerland highlighted the benefits of cooperation on shared water resources. Its policy-level efforts—especially in promoting and financing transboundary water cooperation—have made a meaningful contribution to the global water agenda. 

Further information:
Website FDFA: «Blue Peace prevents conflicts and contributes to greater stability»  
   

Every four years, Parliament discusses on the international cooperation strategy based on a dispatch submitted by the Federal Council. The 2025–2028 strategy includes CHF 1.5 billion in support for Ukraine and CHF 1.6 billion for climate financing. The content of the strategy was largely uncontroversial. Parliament only made minor adjustments.

SECO will discontinue its engagement in water management and higher vocational education. It will also reduce its activities in Azerbaijan and withdraw from certain areas in other priority countries (e.g. macroeconomic support, trade promotion, infrastructure). It will also reduce its projects in countries that are not priority countries.

Further information:
Website SDC: Switzerland’s international cooperation strategy 2025-2028
The portal of the Swiss government:  Development cooperation: FDFA and EAER implement Parliament's decisions

Women around the world pay a heavy price in conflicts. Exposed to all kinds of violence and often displaced, they are too often marginalised – or even excluded – from peace processes, despite playing a crucial role in maintaining social cohesion.
At its 2024 IC Forum on peace, Swiss cooperation dedicated a round table to the Sahel region, with a focus on Mali. In this country marked by years of crisis, women were not involved in the discussions leading to the 2015 Algiers peace agreement.

In response to this situation, WILDAF/Mali, an organisation promoting women's rights, launched the “peace circles” project in 2015 with Swiss support. The aim is to strengthen women's participation in the peace process and enable them to make their voices heard. This project is fully in line with UN Resolution 1325 and Mali's National Action Plan 1325, which aim to strengthen women's rights, protection and participation in national reconciliation.

What are peace circles? They are forums for discussion that bring together women from all regions of the country, regardless of class, origin, religion or political affiliation. They offer a safe space to share experiences related to the conflict, express suffering, and discuss and reflect on the future of the country. Life stories are at the heart of these circles. Beyond words, they also help to rebuild strong bonds and strengthen solidarity within communities.

“We offer them exercises to show them that in a community, we are all connected, like the threads of a spider's web. When one person suffers, the whole community is affected,” says Bintou Founé Samaké, Director of WILDAF/Mali.

The circles help to heal trauma, rebuild lives, manage conflicts peacefully, and strengthen autonomy and resilience. They also help to prevent gender-based violence by raising awareness among young women of their rights and encouraging respectful coexistence, including within the family.

Every year, the IC Forum brings together experts from politics, business, research, philanthropy and civil society. The general public and, last but not least, young people are also represented. Their common goal is to address challenges and explore different approaches and solutions for international cooperation. Valuable insights are exchanged in exciting discussions. Here is a summary of the key conclusions that were reached on the question of ‘What is Peace’, to which over 1,500 people from more than 100 countries contributed.

Peacebuilding at all levels

Despite the difficult circumstances in West Africa for example, Switzerland is still achieving results by supporting local actors on an equal basis to improve living conditions for local communities through a combination of humanitarian aid, development promotion and peacebuilding. Although national challenges remain, Switzerland is improving the situation for local civilians, creating the prospect of a brighter future and building the trust needed to negotiate a peace agreement further down the line.

Creating opportunities for peace by addressing the root causes of conflict

Participants saw that while certain issues, such as natural resources, can trigger conflicts, they can also facilitate peaceful cooperation. However, this can only be achieved if decisions regarding access are transparent and society as a whole has an interest in and supports the solutions found.

Factchecking is crucial to peace

War zone reporting and events coverage are greatly influenced by government and media interests. But fake news has also become more widespread. As a result, one of the biggest and toughest challenges in highly polarised conflicts is to ensure access to fact-based information. Supporting an independent media and facilitating factchecking is therefore crucial to peace.

Further information:
Take aways IC Forum 2024 (PDF)
Website SDC: Take aways IC Forum

Many mountain regions lack suitable structures for regional cooperation and dialogue between science and politics – key prerequisites for effective adaptation strategies. The project supports the establishment of regional platforms in the Andes, East Africa, South Caucasus, and Hindu Kush-Himalaya. There, priorities for mountain communities are gathered and anchored in climate adaptation strategies. For example, in 2024 Azerbaijan included, for the first time, a dedicated chapter on mountain regions in its National Adaptation Plan.

Knowledge about successful adaptation solutions is created in mountain regions worldwide – through local experience, scientific research, and international cooperation. These approaches are collected, scientifically reviewed, and made globally accessible in the Solutions Portal. Developed with the University of Geneva, the platform contains over 100 entries. In the Andes, an impact analysis of adaptation solutions began in 2024 as the first of the regions.

The needs of mountain regions receive comparatively little international attention. The project strengthens their visibility by bringing scientifically grounded contributions into political dialogues – for example, through expert dialogues or specifically prepared briefing papers for decision-makers within the framework of the UN Climate Conference COP29. Switzerland can also benefit from this.

Further information:
Website SDC: Strengthening the resilience of mountain regions to climate change
Website: Mountain Research Initiative
Website: Adaptation Altitude

The digital twin is also being used in Sarajevo to involve residents in local urban development. In 2024, the city conducted various citizen surveys on the new 2025–40 city plan. Mobile studios used the digital twin to show how various aspects of the city could be developed, for example green spaces or transport infrastructure. The feedback from the public was then collected and incorporated into the planning process.

Further information:
Website SECO: Urban development and infrastructure

Three different crises with three different origins but similar consequences: Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam, the forest fires in Bolivia and the drought in Zimbabwe are examples of extreme weather events that affected thousands of people in the regions and meant the loss of livelihoods and basic necessities for many. The SDC provided humanitarian aid in all three disasters, making a significant contribution to securing the livelihoods of the affected populations and to reconstruction and sustainable solutions for the future.

In September 2024, Vietnam was hit by the strongest storm in 30 years. Typhoon Yagi caused widespread flooding in villages and triggered major landslides. Many people lost their livelihoods and means of subsistence as a result of the damage to agriculture. The local authorities were able to respond quickly and carry out evacuations and other rescue measures. Nevertheless, they issued an international appeal for humanitarian aid. In response to this appeal, two days after the disaster, the SDC sent a team of experts from the SHA and various relief supplies to the crisis area.

Severe forest fires destroyed huge areas of the Bolivian lowlands, particularly in the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni. As a result, over 30,000 people were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter in emergency accommodation. Due to the warm temperatures and persistent fires, Switzerland offered its support to the Bolivian government. As part of this effort, an emergency response team (Grupo de Intervención y Apoyo Rápido, GIAR) comprising four experts from Peru and Bolivia was sent to the crisis area. An SHA expert in water, sanitation and hygiene also accompanied the team.

In the summer of 2024, El Niño caused one of the most prolonged droughts Zimbabwe has seen in years. During the rainy season, there was hardly any rainfall and heat waves were all the more intense. The resulting crop failures meant that large sections of the population lost their livelihoods. Given that such droughts are not isolated incidents and that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent across the African continent, the SDC is involved in long-term projects that support the population's long-term adaptation and livelihood security.