SDC Director-General Manuel Sager presents priorities of development cooperation
Bern, 27.01.2015 - Sustainable development goals, the UN climate summit in Paris, and the extension of the Eastern Europe Cooperation Act are among this year’s priorities for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Director-General Manuel Sager outlined these priorities at the SDC’s annual press conference, which also provided an in-depth look into Switzerland’s efforts to promote vocational education and training in various countries. Integration into the labour market is one of the most important instruments to prevent poverty and a lack of prospects. Maya Tissafi, deputy director-general of the SDC and head of Regional Cooperation, introduced the SDC’s efforts and several projects in the area of vocational education and training.
At the SDC’s annual press conference, Manuel Sager presented the priorities for the current year. Chief among these are the following projects:
• The UN vote this coming autumn on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Switzerland has played a significant role in the elaboration of the SDGs, which are set to replace the Millennium Development Goals as of this year.
• In July a UN conference in Addis Ababa will define a financing strategy for the new development agenda.
• The new global climate agreement with ambitious CO2 reduction goals is set to be adopted at the UN climate summit in Paris at the end of the year.
• On the domestic political front, following the positive decision by the Federal Council and the consultation procedure currently under way, the Dispatch on the Extension of the Federal Act on Cooperation with Eastern Europe is to be sent to the Federal Assembly.
Ambassador Manuel Sager then took stock of the progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals, which expire in 2015. He noted that important progress has indeed been made, notably a marked reduction in extreme poverty, chronic hunger, and maternal mortality. Much still needs to be done, however, not only in the above-named areas but especially against the background of on-going crises and conflicts which have caused 57 million people to become refugees and displaced persons. “Never since the end of the Second World War have so many people been forced to flee their homes as in 2014,” said Mr Sager.
Good marks for development assistance
Next, Sager presented the results of a representative survey conducted by the polling institute Gfs Bern on Swiss development cooperation. According to the survey, a majority of Swiss respondents give the Swiss official development assistance good marks, consider it a significant contribution to stability, and also support humanitarian aid as an important factor in international work.
The study’s findings confirm the SDC’s resolve to maintain its current course and direction, said Mr Sager. This includes combating poverty in fragile contexts, that is to say in countries that are largely lacking in state structures and are in greatest need of assistance; support for the transition process in Eastern Europe and the Balkans (cooperation with Eastern Europe); a stepped up commitment to tackling global risks such as the consequences of climate change; and, lastly, humanitarian aid, i.e. alleviating suffering during natural disasters and armed conflicts. An overarching objective, said Sager, is to step up efforts to promote “comprehensive systemic improvements” and “appropriate framework conditions to ensure that the local private sector is competitive and the state is capable of financing itself through a fair and efficient tax system.” For “international cooperation can only ever support developing countries’ own efforts, but never replace their efforts.”
Vocational education and training: a bridge between school and the world of work
Unemployment, and youth unemployment in particular, are one of the worst traps people can fall into, as it can lead to a vicious circle of poverty, lack of prospects, and violence. The global unemployment rate will rise to 204 million in 2015; more than a third of the jobless this year will be young people between the ages of 15 and 24. Maya Tissafi, head of Regional Cooperation, explained how Switzerland uses the positive experience of its own system of vocational education and training to improve conditions in other countries. The SDC aims on the one hand to improve the lives of individuals and on the other to help partner countries develop a practice-oriented system of vocational education and training that meets labour market demand.
Ms Tissafi cited various concrete projects supported by the SDC to illustrate how vocational education and training can help reduce violence. For example, since the end of 2013, the SDC has run a vocational education and training programme in Honduras, the country with the world’s highest murder rate, which aims to provide more than 10,000 young people with vocational training by 2017 to enable them to escape the vicious circle of poverty and violence. Switzerland’s commitment in Albania, notes Ms Tissafi, illustrates how SDC projects counter a lack of prospects and the pressure to migrate. In 35 vocational schools in Albania, the SDC has introduced innovative teaching methods, developed 20 occupational curricula, trained hundreds of teaching staff, and offered guidance to some 4,000 graduates entering the labour market.
In Tunisia, the SDC supports the integration of university graduates in the labour market, and in Nepal it has founded the innovative Employment Fund, which has trained some 90,000 people since 2007. At the same time, a large number of women, poor people, and people disadvantaged by the caste system have been integrated into the labour market. The Employment Fund is also an integration project, noted Tissafi. She concluded, “Vocational education and training is a powerful instrument against poverty.” It helps to reduce the potential for violence, gives people new perspectives, and contributes to the integration of disadvantaged groups.
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