With regard to the humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Cassis has promised the country further support of CHF 30 million.
the essentials in brief
- Switzerland will continue to provide financial support to Afghanistan.
- Federal Councilor Cassis spoke of 30 million francs at the virtual UN conference.
- Various cooperation projects are running between Afghanistan and Switzerland.
Switzerland wants to provide additional financial resources for Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis promised CHF 30 million by the end of 2022 at a virtual UN conference on Thursday.
Switzerland is extremely concerned about the worsening of the emergency and the worsening human rights situation in Afghanistan. This was announced by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA).
Switzerland wants to provide a further CHF 30 million for Afghanistan and the surrounding countries by the end of 2022. This according to the announcement by Cassis. For the most part, this corresponds to the regular budget for the country.
Just giving money is not enough
Cassis further emphasized that the financial support alone would not be enough. The Foreign Minister demanded that human rights and in particular the right to education be respected. This is against the background of the de facto school closures for girls aged 12 and over recently ordered by the Afghan de facto authorities.
According to the EDA, the Taliban takeover and the collapse of the republican government further exacerbated the already massive humanitarian crisis. The same applies to the impact of the sanctions on the population. A large part of the Afghan middle class has now slipped into poverty.
Afghanistan is a priority country for Swiss development cooperation. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Deza) implements a cooperation program with an annual budget of at least CHF 27 million. This since 2002.
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