Development cooperation: FDFA and EAER implement Parliament’s decisions

The Federal Council was briefed at its meeting on January 29, 2025, on the implementation of the development cooperation measures that Parliament had approved upon. Parliament trimmed CHF 321 million from the 2026–28 financial plan for bilateral and multilateral development cooperation and CHF 110 million from the 2025 budget in late December. Support for Ukraine, peace promotion, and humanitarian help are unaffected by the cuts.

The budget cuts adopted by Parliament will alter the implementation of the International Cooperation Strategy 2025–28. They will impact bilateral, economic and thematic cooperation, and multilateral organisations-related work. Nevertheless, targeted prioritisation should allow international cooperation to still achieve a great deal of its intended impact. This includes the CHF 1.5 billion international cooperation contribution to Ukraine’s recovery and the CHF 1.6 billion for international climate financing.

Measures concerning the SDC’s bilateral and multilateral cooperation

• As regards bilateral development cooperation, the SDC will phase out its bilateral development programmes in Albania, Bangladesh and Zambia by the end of 2028. This decision was based on the actual needs on the ground, Switzerland’s long-term interests (diplomatic and economic) and the added value of Swiss international cooperation compared to other countries.
• For thematic cooperation, the SDC will in future focus more on sectors where it can achieve the greatest added value and where it has long-standing expertise. In education, the focus will lie on vocational training and on education in emergencies. In health, the SDC will align its activities on HIV/AIDS and malaria with the WHO and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which are both based in Geneva.. Regarding cultural promotion, the focus has already been placed on projects abroad; in the medium term, activities in Switzerland will also be discontinued.
• The SDC’s multilateral cooperation will see contributions to three international organisations discontinued from 2025: the Global Partnership for Education, UNAIDS and UNESCO.

Additional general cuts to national and theme programs as well as funding for other organizations will be needed between 2025 and 2028 in order to carry out the parliamentary choices. Particularly impacted will be UNICEF, UN Women, the UN agency for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). A CHF 7.5 million cut will be made to core payments to Swiss non-governmental organizations. Additionally impacted will be flexible funding, which would drop from CHF 60 million to CHF 40 million over four years as part of interdepartmental collaboration on migration with SEM. Additionally, starting in 2026, pledges to multilateral development banks—the International Development Association, Asian Development Bank, and African Development Bank—will be reduced.

Measures affecting SECO’s economic cooperation

• Geographical: Alongside the already planned phase-out of economic cooperation in Colombia, activities in Azerbaijan will be scaled back. In other countries, SECO will withdraw from certain sub-areas (e.g. macroeconomic support, trade promotion and infrastructure).
• Thematic: In coordination with the SDC, SECO will discontinue its support for thematic areas such as water management and vocational education and training. It will also cut back on its projects not located in any of its priority countries.
• International organisations: Cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank will be given a lower priority. In addition, preparations are under way to pull out of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). Another measure already approved is the joint SECO-FDFA withdrawal from the OECD Development Centre.