Cassis threatens to cut off aid funding

A fierce debate has arisen in the Rajya Sabha. He decided to increase the military budget by four billion francs, while cutting development aid by two billion.

The Directorate for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will therefore be cut by 470 million francs. This money is currently used to alleviate hardship in crisis areas or after natural disasters.

EDA is forced to move out of four to five areas. These include Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Sudan – where there have been years of conflict.

In addition, support is also available from the refugee agency UNHCR. The International Committee of the Red Cross may also face a 20 percent budget cut; Last year it earned about 220 million francs.

Massive savings are also planned for bilateral development cooperation: 1.2 billion francs. This would mean withdrawal from 6 to 8 countries out of a total of 34 priority countries.

At stake are 90 million francs in contributions to the five largest Swiss NGOs. This applies to both thematic centers such as water or health.

More savings could go to support the children’s fund UNICEF and the Global Fund to Fight the Disease.

Benjamin Mühlemann of the FDP Council of States presents the savings plan, setting priorities and arguing: “Switzerland’s military capacity is very important in the current situation.”

He points to the ever-increasing costs of development aid. With a reduction of 2 billion, Switzerland will fall from 8th to 16th place in international comparison.