Switzerland

By Robert Gloy in Zürich

The Zurich-based organization Social Fabric provides tailoring and dressmaking classes for refugees keen to acquire new skills.

Among the colourful fabrics and sewing machines in a Zürich clothing workshop, Jamila leans across her workbench and carefully smooths the fabric of a black-and-yellow dress she is making, adjusting the hem and inserting pins here and there.

In a few days’ time she will put the finishing touches to the dress and take it home.

La République démocratique du Congo (RDC) est frappée par l’une des plus graves crises humanitaires au monde. Le pays est aussi confronté à une épidémie de choléra. Des millions de personnes dépendent d’une assistance humanitaire. Les représentants de plusieurs Etats et des organisations humanitaires se sont réunis aujourd’hui à Genève pour soutenir la réponse internationale à cette crise. Il s’agissait de la première conférence humanitaire de haut-niveau consacrée à la RDC. La Suisse soutiendra les opérations d’urgence à hauteur de 12,5 millions de francs pour cette année.

Bern, 13.04.2018 - The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is gripped by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The country now also faces a cholera epidemic, while millions of its people are dependent on humanitarian assistance. Representatives of several states and humanitarian organisations met today in Geneva to support the international response to this crisis. This was the first high-level humanitarian conference devoted to the DRC. Switzerland will provide CHF 12.5 million this year to support emergency operations in the country.

Push for transfers at any cost – the Dublin system in 2017

The 2017 Dublin Update, published by the Asylum Information Database, releases figures for 18 European countries revealing an increase in transfers in the aftermath of European Union and domestic political commitments for a stricter enforcement of the Dublin system.

According to a ruling from the Federal Administrative Court in Switzerland from August 2017 the return of Eritrean nationals is lawful provided they have completed their military service.

Geneva, 3 April 2018
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Secretary-General Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,

On behalf of the Swiss government, welcome to Geneva. My special thanks to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Guterres, and to Ms Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden. It is an honour for the Swiss Confederation to chair this conference for a second time, alongside Sweden and the United Nations.

Bern, 03.04.2018 - In 2017 the Swiss Confederation invested CHF 22.3 million in mine action activities for the clearance of contaminated areas, awareness of mine risks, local capacity building and monitoring the implementation of international laws and treaties.

Comment se peut-il que dans un monde de surabondance, plus de 800 millions de personnes souffrent toujours de faim? Pourquoi le nombre des affamés est-il même en progression? Et que fait la Suisse pour lutter contre ce problème? Ces questions ont été au cœur de la Journée annuelle de l’Aide humanitaire suisse et du Corps suisse d’aide humanitaire (CSA). Un éclairage y a été apporté sur l’action menée par la Suisse et la communauté internationale pour remédier à la faim dans le monde, sur les causes de ce fléau et sur sa complexité.

Bern, 23.03.2018 - How can it be that more than 800 million people are still starving in a world of plenty? Why is the number of starving people increasing? And what is Switzerland doing to combat this problem? These and other questions were at the heart of the Annual Conference of Swiss Humanitarian Aid and Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA). The key focus area was how Switzerland and the international community engage in tackling hunger, its causes and its complexities.

Communiqué de presse, 21.03.2018

La Suisse soutient les efforts déployés par le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) pour soulager la détresse et la souffrance. Lors de sa séance du 21 mars 2018, le Conseil fédéral a approuvé une enveloppe de 80 millions de francs pour le siège du CICR à Genève. La Suisse soutient ainsi l’une des rares organisations à avoir accès aux personnes en détresse dans le cadre de crises et de conflits. Depuis son siège à Genève, le CICR coordonne les activités de plus de 80 délégations dans le monde.

Bern, 21.03.2018 - Switzerland supports the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in its work to alleviate need and suffering. The Federal Council pledged at its meeting on 21 March 2018 an annual contribution of CHF 80 million for the ICRC's headquarters in Geneva. Switzerland is thereby supporting one of the few organisations that has access to people in need during conflicts and crises. The ICRC coordinates its more than 80 delegations worldwide from its headquarters in Geneva.

Bukavu, le 14 mars 2018 – Au Sud-Kivu, une cérémonie d’accueil des combattants démobilisés au sein de leur communauté a été organisée le mercredi 14 mars 2018 à Bunyakiri, en territoire de Kalehe. Les ex-combattants ont tenu un dialogue de réconciliation avec les victimes devant l’ambassadrice de la Suisse en RDC, Siri WALT, le vice-gouverneur de la province du Sud-Kivu, Hilaire KISUSA KIKOBYA, des ministres provinciaux et une délégation DDRRR de la MONUSCO.

Overview

During 2017, almost 38,900 refugees were submitted by UNHCR for resettlement1 to 25 countries in Europe,2 36% more than during 2016 and over three times greater than the average rate of 12,400 submissions per year during the last decade.
Between 2007 and 2016, Europe’s proportion of resettlement sub-missions globally has increased from approximately 9% to more than 18%, and in 2017 reached 52%. This is primarily due to a significant decrease globally in new submissions for resettlement, most notably to the United States of America.

33,154 Total persons relocated

21,710 Relocated from Greece (33% of 66,400 originally foreseen)

11,444 Relocated from Italy (29% of 39,600 originally foreseen)

Bern, 06.03.2018 - On 6 March 2018, Swiss Ambassador Thomas Kolly and Afghanistan's Minister of Finance Eklil Hakimi signed a framework agreement in Kabul on technical and financial cooperation and humanitarian aid. This enhances the legal basis for cooperation between the two countries. Switzerland has been engaged in Afghanistan since the 1970s and has had a permanent presence there since 2002. Through the ongoing Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) programme, Switzerland supports Afghanistan's political and economic reform process and provides humanitarian aid.

DES MILLIONS DE PERSONNES MENACÉES PAR LA FAMINE

The contribtuion by Swiss Cooperation in DRC will contribute to reducing the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years old and to meeting the nutrition needs of 12,000 pregnant women and nursing mothers and 12,000 children aged 6 to 23 months, through the various interventions of United Nations agencies. This funding will be over a period of three years. Aid with a value of US$3 million will enable UNICEF, FAO and WFP to continue and extend their project to combat chronic malnutrition in the health areas of Bunyakiri and Minova, in Sud-Kivu province.

US$70 million UNDP-supported project, financed through the Green Climate Fund, Swiss Government and the Government of Georgia, signals 'paradigm shift centred around risk reduction, prevention and preparedness'

Georgia, 28 February 2018 – The Green Climate Fund approved a new project that will scale up early warning systems and the use of climate information in Georgia, enhancing resilience of 1.7 million people and their livelihoods to floods, droughts and other heightened climate risks.

UNICEF RELEASES WORRYING REPORT ON INFANT MORTALITY

96,000 children die each year within their first month of birth in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a new report released by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). This figure places DR Congo among the four countries most affected by neonatal deaths in the world. The situation is aggravated by conflicts and crises that prevent pregnant women from receiving adequate health care during pregnancy or after giving birth.

NORTH KIVU: TWO HUMANITARIAN WORKERS KILLED