USAID freeze ‘earthquake’: Swiss development agency head
"A real earthquake" in the humanitarian sector, according to the head of the SDC
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: USAID freeze ‘earthquake’: Swiss development agency head
The world of development and multilateralism will never be the same following the 90-day suspension of US humanitarian aid, says the head of Switzerland's development agency.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
“Un véritable séisme” dans l’humanitaire, selon la cheffe de la DDC
Original
The overnight American freeze is a real earthquake, Patricia Danzi, head of the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) in an interview with ArcInfo, Le Nouvelliste, Le Courrier and La Liberté.
“Many partners have already come to us to ask if we could give more, to make up a little for the American withdrawal,” she said.
“We ourselves are facing considerable budgetary pressure, which makes [an increase in Swiss aid] difficult to envisage,” she added. With a budget of $42.8 billion, USAID accounts for 42% of global aid. “The amounts involved are just enormous. Neither Switzerland nor other players will be able to compensate for all the funds called into question”, notes the manager.
“In-depth reform
An analysis has been launched of projects co-financed by the SDC and US funds, to see what follow-up action can be taken, said Danzi. “We’re making progress on a day-to-day basis, but it’s possible that some of them will be discontinued”.
While there is still a period of great uncertainty, “because many things remain unresolved on the US side”, “the reform” of the humanitarian world will be “profound”, notes the SDC Director.
According to her, “this is likely to have an impact on the UN’s sustainable development goals, on many development projects that aim for long-term systemic improvement, but also on international Geneva and Swiss NGOs”.
Danzi fears that such an abrupt halt to aid could lead to deaths. “When food is not distributed, medicines are not delivered or medical treatment cannot be carried out in times of crisis, there are bound to be deaths”, she explains, pointing out that in some countries, 60% of humanitarian programs were financed by the United States.
More
Debate
Hosted by:
Benjamin von Wyl
How will Swiss democracy promotion fare after the USAID funding freeze?
Switzerland has followed America’s lead so far. The freezing of USAID funds demands a rethink.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Swiss watch industry calls for ‘clear solution’ with US
This content was published on
Federation of the Watch Industry calls for clear solution to tariff threat and a swift agreement between Bern and Washington.
Swiss youngsters illegally obtain alcohol in a quarter of test purchases
This content was published on
In a quarter of all alcohol test purchases last year, young people in Switzerland were able to obtain beer, wine or spirits illegally.
Swiss storm damage more frequent and more expensive
This content was published on
Storm damage has increased by 126% in the last ten years. Costs have risen by 133% in the same period, according to Helvetia Insurance.
Switzerland plans to tighten S-status permits for Ukrainians
This content was published on
Swiss S-status refugee permits should only be granted to Ukrainian regions where life and limb are concretely threatened.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.