Switzerland (donor profile)
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This article is based on a paper by Frits Schlingemann entitled ENVSEC and Switzerland (14 Jan 2008)
Political background
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (FDFA)
FDFA and Environment
The preservation of natural resources is one of the priorities of Swiss foreign policy (Art. 54 of the Federal Constitution).
Environmental protection – one of the three mainstays of sustainable development – is also a precondition for global conflict prevention, stability and security.
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) collaborates closely with the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC, principally the Swiss Agency for the Environment), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco) and other federal administrative agencies. This cooperation makes it possible to obtain an overview of Swiss environmental policy and promotes coherence in foreign policy.
The FDFA is particularly committed in three fields:
- the development of legal instruments
- the creation of an efficient institutional framework
- technical and financial assistance with environmental problems abroad.
Political Affairs Division I
The Political Affairs Division I of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (FDFA) coordinates bilateral relations between Switzerland and the countries of Europe and Central Asia. In the multilateral field it represents Swiss interests in the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The Western and Central Europe section and the Eastern Europe and Central Asia section develop and coordinate bilateral relations between Switzerland and over 50 countries, among them all the member states of the European Union, Turkey and the successor states to the former Soviet Union. These two sections define foreign-policy guidelines in relations with these states, and implement these in close collaboration with the relevant Swiss embassies. In addition, the Western Europe section coordinates and implements policy towards our neighbouring countries – while the Eastern Europe section identifies possible Swiss contributions to the stabilization of potential trouble-spots, such as the western Balkans or the Caucasus, and sometimes delivers them as well.
The Council of Europe and OSCE section ensures the coherency of Swiss policy in the Council of Europe and the OSCE. The OSCE service is responsible for coordinating Switzerland’s OSCE policy. It monitors the OSCE’s institutional and financial affairs, draws up instructions to the Swiss delegation in Vienna and prepares for the OSCE’s frequent conferences. In addition the service pays Switzerland’s mandatory contribution to the organization. It maintains contact with the Swiss delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly and conducts OSCE projects
Political Affairs Division III
Political Affairs Division III, "The United Nations and Other International Organizations coordinates and implements Swiss policy on the United Nations (UN), its specialized agencies and other international organizations. In addition, it is responsible for Switzerland’s host-country policy, i.e. for hosting international organizations in this country. In this context, International Geneva is at the focus of its activities.
Political Affairs Division IV
Promoting peace and strengthening human rights are central objectives of Swiss foreign policy. The Political Affairs Division IV: Human Security (PA IV) is responsible for pursuing these objectives, in close cooperation with other federal agencies
Peace policy section: this section works for the avoidance and resolution of conflicts, and for sustainable peace-keeping. It also cooperates actively with international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the area of policy development. It is involved in the following geographical areas: south-east Europe, ………..
SDC - Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is responsible for the following areas in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA):
- bilateral and multilateral development cooperation
- humanitarian aid, incl. Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA)
- cooperation with Eastern Europe
- coordinating development cooperation work and cooperation with Eastern European with other federal departments.
The goal of the agency’s development work is to reduce poverty by
- promoting economic and political autonomy
- improving the conditions for production
- helping to overcome environmental problems
- facilitating education, basic healthcare and culture for the disadvantaged
The goal of the agency’s cooperation with Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is to support all these countries:
- with the development of democratic institutions
- with the sustainable management of their natural resources
- with the reform of their healthcare and social systems.
There are currently 200 different projects in progress in 14 different partner countries. These are being implemented in close cooperation with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco).
The agency’s bilateral development cooperation is concentrated on 17 countries and 8 special programmes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. There are some 750 projects currently in progress.
The agency is also involved in multilateral projects with United Nations (UN) organizations, the World Bank and regional development banks
FDFA's relationship to relevant non-Swiss bodies
- FDFA and the United Nations
- Switzerland considers that coordinated action at the international level is often more appropriate and effective than pursuing individual plans. For this reason, it supports the UN’s efforts to promote peace and security, development cooperation and humanitarian aid, as well as the UN’s activities in the economic, social, cultural and environmental fields. The UN also offers the most suitable framework for developing and ensuring compliance with international law.
- FDFA and Peace and Security
- Since the end of the Cold War the international political arena has changed. Complex threats such as terrorism, weapons and drugs handling, organized crime, environmental pollution and armed conflict require closer national and international collaboration. For Switzerland this means close cooperation with other countries on an international level.
- FDFA and OSCE
- For Switzerland, the Organization is an important partner in the European and global security architecture. By assuming the Chairmanship of the OSCE in 1996, Switzerland underlined the importance it attaches to pan-European cooperation.
- Switzerland concentrates on the Organization’s original core tasks. It uses the Organization as a forum for debating security issues with all the countries of Europe and Central Asia, as well as the USA and Canada, and takes part in important conferences and meetings. It supports the OSCE’s projects in the sphere of human and politico-military security. In addition, Swiss experts are dispatched to key functions within the Organization. Switzerland is represented by eight members in the Parliamentary Assembly.
- FDFA and NATO
- After the end of the Cold War NATO suggested to its former enemies in the Warsaw Pact that together they create a framework for confidence-building cooperation. In 1994 this gave rise to the Partnership for Peace (PfP), a pragmatic and flexible instrument for cooperation between NATO and its partner countries.
- Today, 20 states in eastern and southeastern Europe, the southern Caucasus, Central Asia and western Europe (the five neutral and formerly non-aligned European countries: Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Ireland and Sweden) are involved in this partnership. Each country can specify to NATO those areas in which it wishes to cooperate with the other PfP participants.
- The PfP provides Switzerland with an institutional framework for dialogue on security-related issues with other countries within its strategic sphere. This is all the more important given that Switzerland is one of the few countries between the Atlantic and Ukraine that belongs neither to the European Union (EU), which has its own common security and defence policy, nor to NATO. The PfP gives Switzerland access to other NATO partnerships with the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It can therefore forge ties to important foreign and security-policy regions.
- The PfP provides Switzerland with a platform on which to raise important foreign and security-policy issues, such as: the spread of international humanitarian law, the reform of the security sector, the democratic control of armed forces, long-term cooperation on security risks, counter-terrorism and cooperation on the planning of civil emergencies. Switzerland offers its partner countries regular training courses and seminars on these subjects and takes part in technical support projects. This enables it to intensify its bilateral relations as well.
FEDERAL OFFICE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (FOEN)
FOEN International Affairs Division
- is an integral part of Switzerland's foreign-policy system.
- Accordingly, the usual diplomatic instruments are employed in the fulfilment of specific tasks, with the adoption of a multilateral approach being a clear priority.
- These diplomatic efforts are supported by FOEN's scientific and technical expertise.
The Division is responsible for: Global affairs Europe, trade and cooperation on development; Rio Conventions
Thomas Kolly, lic. iur., lawyer
Position: head of division, ambassador
Tel.: +41 (0)31 322 93 23, E-mail: [email protected]
Franz Perrez, Dr. iur., LL.M., barrister
Tel.: +41 (0)31 322 93 08, E-mail: [email protected]
FOEN Global Affairs Section
The section's tasks are: UN matters; Sustainable development; UNEP; CSD; UNFF; Environment and Security; Chemicals; Geneva International; Basler Konvention: UNITAR
Franz Perrez, Dr. iur., LL.M., barrister
Position: head of section
Tel.: +41 (0)31 322 93 08, E-mail: [email protected]
Position: scientific officer
Tel.: +41 (0)31 322 92 69, E-mail: [email protected]
Sibylle Vermont, lic. ès sc. nat.
Position: scientific officer
Tel.: +41 (0)31 322 85 47, E-mail: [email protected]
SWISS COOPERATION WITH EASTERN EUROPE SUB REGIONS
Supporting transition
Swiss cooperation with Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Sovjet Union aims to provide support for the transition to democracy and a market economy by means of knowledge transfer and assistance in problem solving. It is implemented jointly by SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) and SECO (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs). Since 1990 over 1000 Swiss funded projects in 23 transition countries have been realised.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) assists transition countries mostly in South-East Europe and the former Soviet Union in their effort to attain sustainable economic growth based on a market economy and to integrate into the world economy. SECO supports its partner countries to rehabilitate and construct their basic infrastructures, focusing on the domains of energy, water and sanitation, and environment. Other focal points of SECO’s transition assistance are programmes for developing the private sector, for promoting trade, and for developing the financial sector.
SDC contributes to the strengthening of democratic institutions and good governance in former communist countries. The support of social, judicial and economic reforms, vocational training for youth and the unemployed as well as rural development are among the main activities. Roughly 70% of the means are invested in Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo). About 30% of the budget goes to projects implemented in former Soviet republics (Southern Caucasus, Central Asia, Ukraine and Moldava).
Swiss cooperation with South Caucasus
The 2002-2006 programme which was extended through 2007, focused on governance, natural resource management and disaster response. All activities were monitored in terms of their contribution to two additional transversal themes: conflict mitigation and gender.
The cooperation strategy for 2008 – 2011 is in the making.
- Swiss Cooperation Office for the Southern Caucasus
Contact: Thomas Meyer
Address: Radiani Street 12, Tbilisi 380079 - Georgia
Phone +99 53 22 53682, Fax +99 53 22 53684, Email [email protected]
Internet: www.swisscoop.ge
Swiss cooperation with Central Asia
The Regional strategy for 2007 – 2011 focuses on: health care reform; water management and disaster reduction; basic infrastructure; private sector development; and public institutions and services.
Only Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are eligible, while a regional approach is preferred over bilateral assistance.
- Swiss Cooperation Office in Kyrgyzstan
Contact:
Address: 144, Panfilova Street, 720040 Bishkek
Tel: (+996 312) 66 64 80, Fax: (+996 312) 66 64 89
[email protected]; www.swisscoop.kg
- Swiss Cooperation Office in Tajikistan
Contact: Hanspeter Maag
Address: 20, Pavlova Street, 734003 Dushanbe
Tel: (+992 372) 24 73 16, Fax: (+992 91) 901 50 40, [email protected], www.swisscoop.tj
- Swiss Cooperation Office in Uzbekistan
Contact:
Address 15, 17, Ivleva Street, 100100 Tashkent
Tel: (+99871) 120 54 54, Fax: (+99871) 120 54 56, [email protected], www.swisscoop.uz
Swiss cooperation with Ukraine
No specific attention to ENVSEC related assistance in the SDC strategy 2007 – 2010.
- Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine
Contact:
Address: 29, Ivana Franka Street, UA-Kyiv 01030, - Ukraine
Telephone: 00380 - 44 238 62 50, Fax: 00380 - 44 238 62 51, [email protected],
Swiss cooperation with Moldova
No specific attention/reference to environment and security related issues in SDC 2007-2009 strategy.
- Swiss Cooperation Office in Chisinau
- 23 Mateevici Str., Block B, Chisinau, MD 2009, Republic of Moldova
- Tel:(+373 22) 73 18 33, 72 50 73, 72 51 78, Fax: (+373 22) 72 73 79
Swiss cooperation with South Eastern Europe
- Stabilization of democracy and strengthening of the local economy
- Stabilization of the democratic system, strengthening of the local economy, reform of the social institutions as well sustainable management of natural resources are among the most important challenges facing Southeast Europe and are what SDC's transitional support has been focused on.
- The Stability Pact and regional initiatives
- In addition to its bilateral support, SDC promotes the regional integration of the countries of Southeast Europe as an essential step on their way to European integration. It is therefore strongly committed to the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe (SP-SEE), a political initiative launched in 1999 which has allowed better coordination of donor-supported activities at the regional level, while serving as a platform for the common strategies of the countries involved with respect to democracy/human rights, economic development and security.
- The SP-SEE's policy coordination mission will come to an end in the near future with the recent or imminent EU membership of several Southeast European countries. However, regional integration of the Balkans remains an important challenge. Switzerland is therefore pursuing its efforts along these lines, flanking the consolidation of Southeast Europe's position with initiatives and thematic networks that have grown out of the SP-SEE. It is concentrating its support on networks with considerable potential in the areas of local democracy, education, health, social dialogue, cross-border cooperation on the management of natural resources, migration and the combat of organized crime.
