All publications

Rule of law, justice sector reforms and development cooperation: SDC concept paper

The concept paper has been elaborated to clarify and update SDC’s position on the topic and provide guidance to its staff and partners. Part one identifies the essential elements of the rule of law. Part two deals with the trends and challenges of the integration of the rule of law in legal and judicial reform projects and programmes. Part three illustrates the rule of law dimension in the legal and judicial programmes and in other areas of development cooperation through examples from SDC’s experience.

Report on the effectiveness of Swiss development cooperation in the water sector 2008

This Report on the Effectiveness of Swiss development cooperation in the field of access to drinking water is directed at the general public and renders an account of successes achieved through implemented measures, but also on problems encountered and existing challenges. External specialists carried out indepth analysis of twenty-three bilateral and multilateral measures. Project beneficiaries also took part in this assessment. Thanks to programmes that Switzerland has implemented over the past five years, the number of people with improved access to drinking water and sanitation has increased by around 370,000 each year. Access to irrigation has also increased by about 30,000 people each year.

Concept Paper on Decentralisation and Local Governance

Module 1: Definitions and Concepts

Potato boom in the rice region

Politorbis Nr. 45: Power sharing. The Swiss experience

This magazine on Swiss foreign policy publishes articles written by experts. It appears several times a year. The articles are published usually in the language in which they were written. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the FDFA.

Politorbis Nr. 44: La politique étrangère de la Suisse: permanances, ruptures et défis 1945 - 1964

This magazine on Swiss foreign policy publishes articles written by experts. It appears several times a year. The articles are published usually in the language in which they were written. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the FDFA.

Annual Report 2007 SDC / SECO – Swiss International Cooperation

The Annual Report on Switzerland's International Cooperation contains the most important results of the SDC and SECO's engagement in the fight against poverty and reducing global risks.

ABC of Diplomacy (out of print, available in PDF format)

The ABC of Diplomacy is a glossary of alphabetically ordered key words that explain frequently used terms and provides information about the law and customs governing international relations.

Politique ONG: Collaboration avec les organisations de développement privées suisses et internationales

Avec la Politique ONG la DDC dispose d’un cadre de référence général pour la collaboration avec les ONG suisses et internationales. Cette politique définit les orientations des relations entre la DDC et les ONG. Elle fixe les priorités et modalités de la collaboration et décrit les compétences en la matière. L’élaboration de cette politique a initié un processus de systématisation et d’harmonisation de la collaboration des différents domaines de la DDC avec les ONG.

Story Guide: Building bridges using narrative techniques – Story-telling aid

Stories are an easy way of addressing the emotions and analytical understanding at the same time, thus promoting awareness. The Guide is designed to create story-telling skills and confidence. First, it contains instruments and model approaches for recalling and conjuring up mental images of experiences. Second, it suggests ways of structuring stories to make them interesting and intelligible. And third, it provides ideas about development cooperation contexts in which stories can be an effective communication tool.

Les interactions de la Suisse avec le monde

La brochure Les interactions de la Suisse avec le monde traite des interactions complexes qui, dans le contexte de la mondialisation, existent entre la Suisse et le monde dans les domaines de la politique, de l'économie, de la société et de la coopération internationale. L'interdépendance est en effet une caractéristique de notre époque. Avec la mondialisation, il n'y a pratiquement plus de problème qui n'ait pas une portée mondiale. Et la politique de développement, elle aussi, doit trouver des réponses aux défis qui se posent à la Suisse.

Politorbis Nr. 43: Islam et politique dans les Balkans occidentaux

This magazine on Swiss foreign policy publishes articles written by experts. It appears several times a year. The articles are published usually in the language in which they were written. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the FDFA.