Water

Caroline Penn/Panos

Equitable access to water for all is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Hundreds of millions of people are deprived of water, not because it is a rare commodity but because of poverty, social inequality and a lack of political resolve. The SDC places the use of water for people and their food security at the centre of its work.

The SDC's worldwide engagement

The objective is to enhance resilient, sustainable and conflict-sensitive water management.

Interventions aim to increase access to safe water, sanitation and the efficient use of water for food production, improve the basis for integrated water resources management as well as mitigating water-related disaster risks.

Multi- and bilateral cooperation arrangements as well as secondments to UN agencies are complemented with directly implemented projects by the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit. Policy dialogue and water-related diplomacy (Blue Peace processes) and capacity building of local institutions are the instruments applied.