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Website of the Cooperation Office (SDC) Mekong (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar): www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/mekong/
SDC’s work in the Mekong region
focuses on the countries Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Switzerland can look back on a long tradition of bilateral cooperation with Vietnam. This experience enables the SDC to pursue successful
development approaches in other parts of the region.
Together with Vietnam, Laos – which shares many similarities with its eastern neighbour – is the most important regional partner for Swiss development cooperation. Regional aspects have been considered more carefully for several years. In Cambodia, the SDC is setting up a programme in the fields of state reform, food security and job creation.
In Myanmar (previously Burma), Swiss humanitarian aid has been provided for several years in the eastern part of the country and in the camps on Thai territory for refugees from Myanmar. In 2008, it was used to help victims of Cyclone Nargis. In the wake of political changes that have taken place in Myanmar in recent months, Switzerland has decided to augment its humanitarian programme with a development programme. In particular, it wishes to contribute to restoring and consolidating peace.
| Swiss International Cooperation | 2011 |
2012 |
2013* |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDC | |||
| Bilateral development cooperation | 35.23 | 40.62 | 38.56 |
| Humanitarian aid | 5.88 | 6.52 | 9.20 |
| State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) | |||
| Economic Cooperation and Development | 12.96 | 6.76 | 10.59 |
| Total SDC/SECO | 54.07 | 53.90 | 58.35 |
| Other Federal Offices | |||
| FDFA Human Security Division and Directorate of International Law | 0.32 | 0.55 | 1.52 |
| Other FDFA Divisions | 0.01 | – | .. |
| Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) | 0.71 | 0.05 | – |
| The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) | 0.09 | 0.19 | 0.19 |
| Total other Federal Offices | 1.13 | 0.79 | 1.71 |
| Cantons and municipalities | 0.79 | .. | .. |
| Total | 55.99 | 54.69 | 60.06 |
SDC figures excluding program contributions to NGOs
.. = figures not available | – = nil or amount < 5'000 CHF
Development Cooperation: Priorities
The programme in the Mekong region concentrates on the following themes:
- Rural development and sustainable use of resources: Promotion of participatory methods for sustainable forest and agricultural land use; strengthening of the capacity of local agrarian institutions, extension services and grassroots organizations; development of mountain regions through the imparting of agricultural knowledge, and support of small familial farms.
- Good governance: Strengthening participatory measures, the legal system and the rule of law; contributing to reforms in public administration, Parliament and the management of public finances; training administrative staff. Support in drawing up national development strategies, implementation of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Building up the institutional and organisational capacities of local partners. Job creation and vocational training; improving vocational training and the job market and mutual recognition of qualifications and the rights of migrant workers.
- Economic development with emphasis on private sector support (SECO Programme): Strengthening the private economic sector, the basic infrastructure and of national, regional and international trade. Much emphasis is placed on creating the basic preconditions which allow the poor social strata to survive in the rapidly growing free enterprise economy.
In late 2006, a new liaison office was opened in Vientiane (capital of Laos) to enable the rapid development of programmes in Laos. The opening of the office strengthened Switzerland’s good development cooperation with the Laotian government. One of the highlights of this fifteen-year partnership is the research project to develop new varieties of rice which has helped Laos to achieve self-sufficiency in rice. Another important SDC contribution is the removal of unexploded ordnance dating back to the Vietnam war. It also supports the government-launched reforms of the public administration, which is not only to become more efficient but also more accessible for the people. The SDC is also supporting civil society with a range of different instruments.
Even before Cambodia became a priority country of the Mekong Programme, the SDC supported the Swiss paediatrician Beat Richner’s hospitals in Kantha Bopha, a major public health project. These hospitals, which have had a positive impact on a majority of Cambodian children and mothers, provide free, high-standard medical care.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), for which Vietnam is a priority country, supports the integration of Vietnam into the world economy, encouraging its sustainable economic growth so as to reduce poverty. Projects which have been successfully implemented in Vietnam and are suitable as models are replicated in neighbouring Mekong countries, while exploiting the available synergies and the hub function of the Vietnamese projects. SECO participates actively in trade and investment-promotion programmes, private-sector development and the support of measures targeted at reforming both the financial and the public-finance sectors.
The Human Security Division conducts a human rights dialogue with Vietnam. Priority issues of this dialogue are legal reforms, torture, the death penalty, rights of minorities, freedom of religion, women’s rights as well as international human rights issues. The dialogue leads to further activities such as seminars, educational trips on the equality of women and men as well as complementary activities in the areas of minority rights, the penal system, international human rights mechanisms etc.
In Myanmar, Switzerland is developing a major joint programme for the 2013–2017 period, focusing on the following thematic priorities:
- employment and vocational training
- health, access to social services and local governance
- agriculture and food security
- promotion of peace and human rights and protection of local populations.
Myanmar: International cooperation
The Switzerland's partners are:
- Governments and government ministries, for example in Vietnam the ministries of agriculture, education, technology and the environment, as well as of planning and investment
- Provincial, municipal and local authorities
- Swiss NGOs and other (including international) aid agencies
- Grassroots organisations
- Local universities and specialised institutes
- Regional and multilateral organisations
Humanitarian Aid: Priorities
The SDC's Humanitarian Aid Department focuses its activities in the Mekong region on Myanmar. It began working in the region 20 years ago to provide assistance to refugees from Myanmar in Thailand. Since 2001, Myanmar has been a priority area of Switzerland's humanitarian aid. Following the disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, Switzerland reinforced its commitment and opened a programmed office in Yangon in 2009.
Swiss Humanitarian Aid currently focuses its activities on the following areas:
- Improving the quality of social infrastructures and social networks and providing the most vulnerable people with better access to them:
In the delta region of south-western Myanmar, which was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, the SDC is working on the reconstruction of disaster-resistant school buildings that will function as shelters for entire communities during future hurricanes or floods. Improving knowledge and practices in relation to disaster preparedness, building maintenance and waste management is also part of the project.
In south-eastern Myanmar, the SDC is implementing a project that provides conflict-affected communities with access to basic infrastructure (schools, local health centres, water supply, etc.). In this context, the SDC is working in close partnership with the UNHCR and with locally based NGOs.
- Food and livelihood security:
In the area of food security, the SDC is working with the World Food Programme (WFP) to support populations that regularly suffer from food insecurity and are caught in debt traps. Switzerland is also funding water and sanitation projects for the very poor and destitute in various regions of the country and also contributes to the provision of food, fuel, shelter and other basic goods to refugees from Myanmar in Thai refugee camps.
- Protection of the civilian population:
In the southeast of the country, which has long been affected by conflict, the SDC helps particularly vulnerable populations, such as internally displaced persons, child soldiers and landmine victims, to claim their basic rights, obtain adequate support and reintegrate into society. This is done through partner organisations such as the ICRC, UNHCR and UNICEF, as well as through the selective deployment of Swiss experts.
- Emergency aid in disasters:
The population of the Mekong region is exposed to various risks from natural disasters and internal conflicts. Swiss Humanitarian Aid is able to provide rapid assistance. The decisive factor for a deployment is the extent of the disaster and the capacity of the affected country to cope with it.
Background information Mekong region
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Vietnam
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Laos
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Cambodia
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Myanmar |
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Background information provided by the BBC - VietnamBackground information provided by the BBC - LaosBackground information provided by the BBC - CambodiaBackground information provided by
the BBC - Myanmar
Local SDC contact address:
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Mekong (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar) (Hanoi) |
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Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC |
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| Phone | +856 21 251 794 |
| Fax | +856 21 251 797 |
| vientiane@sdc.net | |
| Website | www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/mekong/ |
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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. |