OCHA’s mandate and priorities aligns with the Strategy for International Cooperation 2021-2024. The strategy considers multilateral cooperation as a cornerstone of Switzerland’s international cooperation and highlights Switzerland’s influential role in promoting important global reform agendas for an efficient, effective and accountable humanitarian system.

The institutional partnership with OCHA is part of Switzerland’s systemic engagement with the UN humanitarian architecture and aims to positively influence policies and practices.

OCHA made progress towards an anticipative and localized humanitarian response:

The CBPFs played a pivotal role in the implementation of the localization agenda: in 2023, local actors received USD 413 million, or 39% of the total amount allocated by all CBPFs, thereby exceeding the 25% global benchmark set at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit.

OCHA continued to scale up and mainstream anticipatory approaches to humanitarian action. During the year 2023, CERF disbursed USD 28.5 million for anticipatory funding targeting 700’000 people.

As a result of a longstanding partnership with OCHA and as member of the OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG), Switzerland enjoys a privileged access to OCHA which allowed to influence policy and practice.

Switzerland supported OCHA’s efforts in transforming the current humanitarian system into one that is more people-centred, context-specific and that contributes to community resilience (ex. support to leadership such as through the Peer-2-Peer Support Project).

Switzerland achieved considerable results in terms of locally led humanitarian action during the co-chair of the Pooled Funds Working Group (PFWG).

In 2023, OCHA adopted its Strategic Plan 2023-2026 which seeks to contribute, amongst others, to a more localized and people centred coordination architecture through:

1) the Flagship Initiative, which empowers the country-level humanitarian leadership to engage with affected people, local organizations and funding partners to develop context-specific coordination and response solutions,

2) the transformation of humanitarian financing towards more anticipation and localization.

Switzerland will continue contributing to a coherent system wide UN coordination architecture, which is people centred and localized.

Switzerland will increase its share of unearmarked and flexible funding.

Switzerland will facilitate and strengthen the capacity and leadership of the humanitarian system to undertake and promote gender-sensitive programming.

Switzerland will contribute to a strategic partnership between funding partners and OCHA.

9th out of 41 donors (2023)

The OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG) is composed of 30 donors. Top 5 donors are US, UK, Sweden, Germany and the European Commission (2023).

The coordination with other donors takes place in the ODSG. The ODSG members have committed themselves to provide political, as well as substantial financial support to OCHA through an annual un-earmarked contribution of at least USD 500’000.