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India
Website of the SDC in India: www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/india/
 India is a land of contrasts: even
though it is a regional and world power the country is still confronted with problems of widespread poverty and social discrimination. 450 million Indians live on less than USD 1.25 a day, and 47% of
all children in the country are underfed.Swiss development cooperation, which started in 1961 in India, contributes to reducing poverty and advancing sustainable and just rural development. In addition to the SDC, the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) and about 60 Swiss NGOs – partly supported by the SDC – are active in India. In 2006, the SDC reoriented its development programme with India, giving priority to tackling global problems concerning energy and climate change. |
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Development cooperation: priorities and new directions
In 2010, the SDC will terminate its conventional poverty-reduction programme in India and together with Indian partners launch a number of projects in the framework of the Global Climate
Change Programme. Starting on 1 January 2011, these will be managed by the unit for "Climate Change and Development" at the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi.
The SDC has been active in development cooperation in India since 1961. Through its programmes in this period, it has contributed to improving living conditions and strengthening the rights of the
poor and marginalised population groups in several federal states. It works primarily with local partners, in particular with representatives of civil society and the private sector. The
partnerships, contacts and specialised know-how it has built up over the past decades will benefit knowledge management and new forms of South-South cooperation, e.g. in questions of political and
administrative cooperation and local governance.
Projects in the context of the Global Climate Change Programme are based on the following criteria:
1. India pursues the objective of just and sustainable development, taking into account the issue of climate change and accepting increasing responsibility for addressing global
problems. SDC’s cooperation with India in the field of climate change furthers the exchange and development of specialised knowledge that is of interest to, and for the benefit not only of India and
other countries of the South but also Switzerland.
2. Cooperation extends over various fields:
- Renewable energy and energy efficiency: advancing access to energy in rural areas (electricity production from hydropower and biomass) and the efficient use of energy in buildings and SMEs.
- Adjustment to climate change: support for measures to help poorer and other population groups at risk adjust to the effects of climate change and deal with natural disasters.
3. The new projects will feature the following six key aspects:
- Instead of development cooperation with the transfer of resources from Switzerland to India, cooperation is carried out on the basis of mutual interests and joint actions and financing. The principal objectives remain fighting poverty and promoting sustainable development.
- The promotion of proven techniques and technologies as well as national and international political dialogue.
- A central element of the programme is knowledge exchange and technology transfer (also with the private sector). In this area India and Switzerland can build on a solid basis of shared experience.
- The programme involves a wide variety of players from the private and public sectors as well as civil society. National, regional and global networks are also important.
- The programme will harness SDC’s and Switzerland’s comparative advantages, including Swiss know-how, products, technologies and skills that will be used and put to profitable use.
- The SDC’s annual budget will be substantially reduced from CHF 17 million (2007) to about CHF 6m.
Humanitarian Aid: Priorities
The Humanitarian Aid of the SDC intervenes in India with the Swiss Humanitarian Aid (SHA) in particular when major natural disasters call for a rapid and efficient emergency response, such as
that following the cyclone in the State of Orissa in 1999 or after the devastating earthquake in Gujarat in January in 2001.
Since 2008, close cooperation has developed with the Indian government in dealing with disasters, with a special focus on building local search and rescue capabilities in particular to aid victims of
earthquakes and landslides (USAR, Urban Search and Rescue).
Background information India
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Source: World Bank's World Development Indicators 2008 |
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Local SDC contact address:
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India (New Delhi) |
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Swiss Cooperation Office India |
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| Phone | +91 11 268 77819 |
| Fax | +91 11 268 73631 |
| delhi@sdc.net | |
| Website | www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/india/ |
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Additional Information and Documents Here, you will find more publications, links, documents and articles about Swiss development cooperation and humanitarian aid in this country. |