In the Great Lakes region, Switzerland promotes peace and the fight against poverty. Its support covers good governance and the protection of civilians, health and economic development. Switzerland's activities are implemented through its three foreign policy instruments: development cooperation, humanitarian aid and peace policy.
Strategy
The three countries of the region (Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC) constitute a common geographical area composed of communities interconnected by language, culture, trade and family ties. Yet the region remains divided by a history of conflict that has torn the socio-political fabric apart and led to violent conflicts causing immense suffering. The peace agreements signed and the elections organised have not yet put an end to hostilities and built solid foundations for peace. The consequences of the COVID-19 crisis are exacerbating the challenges that the region is already facing.
In this context, Switzerland works through a regional programme that uses different international cooperation tools to strengthen existing regional ties and mitigate recurrent crises. Switzerland's activities focus mainly on good governance, health and economic development.
| Swiss Bilateral ODA | 2022 mill. CHF |
2023 mill. CHF |
2024 * mill. CHF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) | |||
| Bilateral development cooperation | 33.63 | 31.20 | 33.40 |
| Humanitarian aid | 18.60 | 14.51 | 5.82 |
| State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) | |||
| Economic Cooperation and Development | - | - | - |
| Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD) | |||
| Conflict transformation and human rights | 2.84 | 2.61 | 3.38 |
| Total SDC/SECO/PHRD | 55.07 | 48.32 | 42.60 |
| Other Federal Offices | |||
| Other FDFA Divisions (ASAF, AIO, aso) | - | - | .. |
| Network of FDFA representations abroad | 5.30 | - | .. |
| State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) | 0.10 | 0.06 | .. |
| State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) | 0.11 | 0.11 | .. |
| MeteoSwiss | - | - | - |
| Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) | 1.01 | 0.98 | 1.32 |
| Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) | - | - | .. |
| Federal Statistical Office (FSO) | - | - | - |
| Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) | - | - | - |
| State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) | - | - | - |
| Total other Federal Offices | 6.52 | 1.15 | 1.32 |
| Cantons and municipalities | 1.31 | .. | .. |
| Total | 62.90 | 49.47 | 43.92 |
Data status at 02.04.2024
* planned; total based on available data
.. = figures not available | – = nil or amount < 5'000 CHF
