Swiss Budget Cuts Increase Pressure On International Geneva

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland has decided to cut funding to several international organisations based in Geneva, including UNAIDS and UNESCO. This comes as the United States has suspended its foreign aid, leading to a climate of uncertainty in Geneva.

This content was published on February 18, 2025 - 08:45 6 minutes

Warfare, humanitarian crises, climate change, health... Rachel covers geopolitical issues from international Geneva. As a former environmental journalist, she has developed a keen interest in raw materials and has reported on mining conflicts in the Arctic. She also coordinates the 'Genève Vision' editorial project, a joint venture between SWI Swissinfo, Géopolitis RTS and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

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“It's a blow, and the timing is particularly bad with the suspension of US aid,” says Christine Stegling, deputy executive director at the policy, advocacy and knowledge branch of UNAIDS.

UNAIDS learnt at the end of January that Switzerland would cease its contributions to the organisation from 2025, meaning a loss of CHF3 million ($3.3 million).

“It will be difficult to compensate for this loss, as the entire development aid sector is going through a systemic shock,” Stegling says. Swiss federal authorities will also be cutting their contributions to UNESCO and the Global Partnership for Education.

These cuts follow the Swiss parliament's decision last December to slash CHF110 million from the 2025 budget and CHF321 million from planned 2026-2028 development cooperation funding.

Other major Swiss contribution cuts are planned, notably to UNICEF (-25%), the United Nations Development Programme (-20%) and UN Women, the United Nations body for gender equality and empowerment of women (-20%). Switzerland will also end its development programmes in Albania, Bangladesh and Zambia by the end of 2028.

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