Government aid agency concentrates its efforts

Lack of resources? A woman draws water from a well supported by the SDC Keystone

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has announced that it is reducing the number of its priority aid countries due to budget cuts.

The news came as the SDC outlined its goals for 2007, which include the fight against poverty and measures to improve human security.

At its annual news conference in Bern on Thursday, the SDC said that it would reduce the number of countries on its aid programme from 17 to 14 by 2010.

The SDC will withdraw from Ecuador and cut back in India and Bhutan. In addition, Romania and Bulgaria – the two latest European Union members – will no longer receive funding from the SDC’s Cooperation with Eastern Europe programme after the end of the year.

The cutbacks come at time when the government is aiming to reduce its spending. The SDC’s budget for 2007 stands at SFr1.3 billion ($1.04 billion), which is roughly equivalent to last year’s budget.

“We aim to achieve maximum results with the resources available,” said the organisation’s head, Walter Fust, in a statement, adding that the SDC would also be reducing the number of themes in its development aid programme to concentrate on areas of Swiss expertise, such as the environment and education.

But eastern Europe will still form a central part of the agency’s work, said Fust.

The SDC – and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) – have been tasked with coordinating programmes funded from Switzerland’s SFr1 billion contribution to EU enlargement.

This comes under the new law on cooperation with eastern Europe, which was approved by voters last November. The first payments to the ten new EU members are scheduled in the second half of this year.

Goals

The SDC’s goals for 2007 have been grouped under poverty reduction and “human security in a global partnership”.

Fust said the agency would be helping to implement the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, which are aimed at halving poverty by 2015. It also wants to secure funding for cheap loans for the poorest countries.

Under security issues come measures to counter global warming and to ensure sustainable development, as well as supporting fragile states.

The SDC also wants to take part in the reform of the UN’s unwieldy development aid system.

Youth, the theme announced in 2006, will also remain a high priority. “From a development point of view, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility,” said Fust.

The SDC is aiming to make more checks to ascertain the effects of its aid programmes.

The announcements come after quite a tough year for the organisation. Apart from the budget problems, it came under fire from a key Senate committee.

In a report, the committee said Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey should run the SDC more effectively and called on the organisation to focus on priority regions.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Switzerland’s annual aid budget is equivalent to 0.4% of gross national product, which is below the 0.7% recommended by the UN.
For 2007 the SDC’s budget is expected to be SFr1.3 billion.
SDC undertakes direct action, supports the programmes of multilateral organisations, and helps to finance programmes run by Swiss and international aid organisations in the following areas: bilateral and multilateral development cooperation, humanitarian aid and cooperation with eastern Europe.