Through its international cooperation work, Switzerland is engaged in crisis prevention and providing emergency aid in a number of countries. SDC and SECO projects and programmes achieved a wide range of outcomes in 2016
Selected results 2016
Middle East
2016 saw the regular deployment of water and sanitation specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit to provide technical support to emergency missions in the context of protracted crises and multiannual programmes that aim to increase access to basic services. In Jordan and Lebanon, for example, there will be a sustainable water supply for more than 30,000 Syrian refugees in the Azraq camp, while more efficient governance in the Bekaa Valley should help secure better access to water and sanitation for more than 700,000 people.
Eastern Europe
Since the beginning of 2015, Switzerland has been supplying waterworks in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which provide drinking water to the majority of towns on both sides of the ‘contact line’ between government-controlled and non-government-controlled areas. In 2016 Switzerland was the only country to organise humanitarian convoys that crossed the ‘contact line’. In May, 720 tonnes of water treatment aid supplies and medical equipment were delivered to both areas. This provided almost 4 million people with access to clean drinking water for a year.
Asia
The school rebuilding and renovation programme following the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010 was concluded in mid-2016. The 23 rebuilt schools in the Swat district and the 60 renovated schools in the Charsadda district provide a safe learning and teaching environment for 15,000 pupils and teachers. In addition to the financial contributions to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as well as the ICRC, which were mainly used to support internally displaced populations and refugees from Afghanistan, the SDC/SHA provided funding for natural hazard prevention and supported the provincial authorities of KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) by providing expertise.
