Selected results 2015
Through its international cooperation work, Switzerland works for globalisation that promotes development in a number of countries. SDC and SECO projects and programmes achieved a wide range of results in 2015.
Since 2013, the SDC has been taking active steps to develop new forms of partnerships with the private sector to enhance the impact of its projects.
The Remote Sensing-Based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging Economies (RIICE) initiative is a partnership co-funded by the SDC and several public and private-sector actors. RIICE makes use of innovative, satellite-based, remote-sensing technologies in order to reduce the vulnerability of rice producers in East and South Asian countries by providing governments with a risk management tool and by developing insurance products for small-scale rice farmers. It is well on the way to contributing to the food security of more than 2 million people.
South Africa
SECO fosters climate-friendly growth in its partner countries by improving the management of natural resources and promoting market and financing mechanisms that help to mitigate climate change.
In South Africa, for example, SECO is supporting the UNIDO Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvement Project, aimed at local companies. So far the project has been very successful, with companies becoming more competitive and reducing their energy footprint. Between January and October 2015, more than 3,000 jobs were saved or created. An external evaluation showed that the lessons learned from this project have been applied in similar projects in 17 countries.
Sri Lanka
Switzerland’s operational efforts seek to improve the situation of millions of people who leave their homes in South and South-East Asia to go and work in the Middle East. In Sri Lanka, the SDC provided support to advice centres in 10 of the country’s 25 districts, which were tasked with informing potential migrants about the benefits and risks of migrating to find work, their rights and obligations, and working and living conditions in their destination country. Since 2013, 52,000 households have been able to make a decision regarding migration on the basis of reliable and precise information.
