A Better World Volume 2

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The policy gap was filled in 2015 with SDC’s peacebuilding

and statebuilding strategy, taking at its core the idea that:

“the concept of fragility thus encompasses missing or insuf-

ficient statebuilding and peacebuilding efforts on national as

well as local levels. If these are not integrated as an overall

objective into development and humanitarian efforts of SDC,

poverty cannot be sustainably reduced.”

SDC therefore departed from the somewhat state-centred

OECD model of fragility given at that time and, instead,

included in its approaches: governance and community

related resiliencies to withstand all forms of violence, the

support of conflict transformation, and respect for human

rights and rule of law. In order to communicate this concept

to its decentralized operations, SDC used the OECD Ten

Principles for Engagement in Fragile States

and its main

objective to “take the context as a starting point”. This

prepared SDC to be better positioned to complement its

technical skills with political understanding, bringing

programmes from different branches together in order

to address the root causes of conflict and fragility, and to

increase flexibility so that it could respond to opportunities

or risks more quickly.

Adopting a long term perspective in fragile and conflict

affected contexts made it possible for SDC to commit – in

addition to its humanitarian spending – an increase from 44

per cent of bilateral development spending in 2016 toward

the target of 50 per cent by the end of 2020.

Fit for purpose with comprehensive risk management

Switzerland’s commitment to work in fragile, conflict

affected and hostile environments is based on its own expe-

rience and mandate as well as on international consensus.

Countries affected by conflict and fragility were among those

left furthest behind by the Millennium Development Agenda.

By 2030, poverty will become increasingly concentrated in

fragile states and the OECD predicts, even under the best

case scenario, that more than 60 per cent of the global poor

will be located in these contexts.

While reducing fragility

and conflict causes are the largest opportunity for reducing

structural poverty and exposure to humanitarian needs,

there are associated risks. “International engagement in

fragile and conflict-affected states […] poses considerable

risks for donors and implementing partners, who must

contend with high levels of insecurity, political instability,

weak institutions, and the failure of basic state functions

that typically characterize such states […] outcomes are hard

to foresee and control, and the possibility of returning to

violent conflict is always present.”

For SDC, comprehensive risk management demands

becoming fit for purpose and staying engaged even where

other donors have given up field work and shifted from

development to humanitarian or even military assistance.

Cases such as SDC’s engagement in Nepal, Mali and Burundi

showed that comprehensive risk management – developed

on the basis of OECD’s Copenhagen Principles

– helped

best in addressing context, programme and institutional

risk. For SDC this is part of context specific and conflict

sensitive management such that, instead of developing new

instruments, we prioritised conflict sensitivity, human rights

based approaches and good governance principles as well as

a gender perspective on operational instruments for project

management, strategic planning and reporting.

If peace, conflict issues, human rights and rule of law

become commonplace, the impact on societies and systems

of governance is not great. The challenge is to balance the

contextualized theories of impact with coherent program-

ming and reporting. In doing so, SDC has developed a range of

operation-based reference indicators, helping to frame techni-

cal programmes – such as water, food security or employment

– as its contribution towards the reduction of fragility.

Agenda 2030 Goal 16: Aid4Peace or a mix between

Millennium Goals and New Deal on Peace Building

Goal 16 reflects much of why Switzerland actively promotes

and participates in the New Deal for Engagement in fragile

states and the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and

State building. For Switzerland, the New Deal filled the

gap left open by the Millenium Development Goals and the

Millenium Declaration. It is the key agreement between

fragile and conflict-affected states, development partners, and

civil society to improve the current development policy and

practice in fragile and conflict-affected states. It was devel-

Provision of psychosocial care for the women and men affected by sexual and

psychological violence in Burundi

Land rights and titles are a main source of conflict and violence in Burundi.

SDC supports a system of acknowledgment and certification of land use