Members of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit during a practical workshop with Haitian masons
The building of earthquake-resistant infrastructures unfolds via the building of local capacities. Here we see a member of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit at a practical workshop with bricklayers in Haiti. © SDC

Natural disasters strike rich and poor countries indiscriminately, but the repercussions are much more dramatic in the Global South. An earthquake, cyclone, flood or drought can undo decades of development efforts. The SDC is committed to disaster risk reduction not only to save lives, but also to ensure the sustainability of the socio-economic development of the countries it assists.

SDC Focus

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is central to all programmes implemented by the SDC. This preventive approach is essential in vulnerable countries at high risk of natural disasters. The goal of DRR is to save lives and safeguard development gains. 

DRR activities focus both on sudden disasters, particularly flooding and earthquakes, and on disasters that make fewer headlines such as droughts. DRR involves action taken before, during and after a disaster. It requires a long-term commitment to strengthening the institutions, human resources and infrastructure of the partner countries concerned. It is an integrated process that encompasses scientific, technical and socio-political considerations.

The SDC promotes an integrated approach to disaster risk management, centred around the stages that typically occur before, during and after natural disasters:

  1. Prevention: reduce existing risks and prevent the emergence of new risks through preventive and planning measures
  2. Management: reduce the impact of a disaster by organising and training rescue teams
  3. Recovery: reduce the risk of future damage by advocating appropriate reconstruction models

Preventive measures can take a wide variety of forms, including the reforestation of catchment areas affected by landslides, forest mapping and the construction of earthquake-resistant schools (as in Haiti). Organising and training rescue teams saves lives and reduces the impact of disasters.

The SDC is also committed to promoting at the international level the experiences gained in the countries where it is active. In this respect, it played a prominent role in the drafting of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The SDC also works together with international organisations such as the Global Facility for Disaster Risk and Recovery (GFDRR) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

Background

Adopted in March 2015, the Sendai Framework for Action on Disaster Risk Reduction sets out the priorities of the international community for disaster reduction during the 2015–30 period. The Sendai Framework replaced the Hyogo Framework for Action for the 2005–15 period and updated the definition of disaster. The new framework applies to the risk of small-scale and large-scale, frequent and infrequent, sudden and slow-onset disasters, caused by natural or man-made hazards as well as related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks. It also calls for the strengthening of disaster risk governance, including national platforms.

DRR concerns all sectors of society. It only proves effective when everyone does their part: national and local authorities, the private sector (the insurance sector in particular), civil society, international organisations and the public at large.

Switzerland is internationally renowned for its expertise in DRR. In Switzerland, the SDC is leveraging its partnerships with other units in the Federal Administration to transfer this knowledge to its partner countries. It has joined forces with the Federal Office for the Environment, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), as well as a number of NGOs, the private sector, various universities and the Swiss National Platform for Natural Hazards (PLANAT).

Online tool

DRR is more than a priority theme for the SDC: it is a working methodology. Each project in a country at risk is evaluated to determine how vulnerable it is to potential disasters, and activities are planned to mitigate identified risks. To this end, the SDC has created the CEDRIG Online Tool (Climate, Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction Integration Guidance). Intended for all development and humanitarian aid professionals, this online tool can be used to integrate into project designs the risks associated with natural hazards, climate change and environmental degradation.

CEDRIG Online Tool

SDC internet portal on disaster risk reduction

Specialised information (news, documents, instruments, methods) on knowledge sharing and cooperation with partners and experts

SDC Disaster Risk Reduction Network

Documents

Current projects

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Improving humanitarian policy and practice by providing support to HERE-Geneva, a new Geneva-based actor working on humanitarian policy

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2018

Independent research and dialogue on policy and practice is indispensable to improving the effectiveness and quality of humanitarian action. Working in close collaboration with governments, operational humanitarian actors, and others, HERE-Geneva delivers independent reports and studies based on research and evidence with a view to influencing policy and changing behaviour.


Contribution to Ground Truth Solutions 2017

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2017

By supporting Ground Truth, Switzerland strives to ensure people and communities vulnerable to risk and affected by disaster, conflict or poverty, do influence and have access to quality assistance and can hold organizations accountable. Ground Truth believes that the best way to plan humanitarian programmes and gauge their impact is to include the perspective of people at the receiving end of aid, and has set-up tools to do so.


Contribution 2017-2019 to WHO Project “Attacks on Health Care”

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2019

To demonstrate and reinforce its engagement in promoting the protection of the medical mission, SDC’s Humanitarian Aid supports a project conceived and implemented by WHO, whose overall goal is to make sure that essential life-saving health services are provided to emergency-affected populations unhindered by any form of violence or obstruction. Based on the collected data, the project will launch advocacy policies and promote the issue through, among others, the exchange of best practices.


Strengthening of UNHCR Community-Based Protection Project

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2017

In line with the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) principles, Switzerland recognizes the necessity of predictable and flexible funding to respond to changing needs in humanitarian crises. SDC funding allows UNHCR to improve its protection approaches and activities towards persons of concern, including internally displaced persons through the development of adequate processes and mechanisms guaranteeing quality standards in UNHCR programmes.


CERAH Core Contributions 2017-2020

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2021

CERAH’s mission aims at enhancing the capacity of individual and institutional humanitarian actors to devise and bring relevant, adapted and timely responses to the plight of populations affected by armed conflict, disasters or social exclusion. To that end, it aims at strengthening the competencies of humanitarian professionals through internationally recognized education and training, at improving humanitarian responses through critical research of humanitarian concepts, policies and practices and to stimulate debate on selected humanitarian issues to further critical and innovative thinking. This project aims at furthering systematization and professionalization of humanitarian activities and actors, with the stated goal to make the humanitarian sector more coherent and accountable.


Projet Oriental Protection Migrants Maroc

01.01.2017 - 31.03.2018

Morocco is a country of transit and destination for migrants and refugees, 20’000 of which live on the margins of society, despite the 2014 adopted first ever migration strategy, promising the respect of human rights and access to public services. The “Projet Oriental” facilitates access to health care and provides humanitarian support to 5’600 vulnerable migrants per year and coaches public and civil society service providers to care for the specific needs of the migrants.


Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative, 2017-2019

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2019

By supporting the Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative (HQAI), at the moment where it is building its sustainability, Switzerland strives to ensure humanitarian organizations have a measurable tool to track their progress against effectiveness and accountability to affected populations, with their application of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), and continuously improve. This is done through the verification and certification processes of HQAI which acts as an independent organization.


Allocation of SDC Funding to WFP Operations in 2017

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2017

In line with the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) principles, Switzerland recognizes the necessity of predictable and flexible funding to respond to changing needs in humanitarian crises. SDC funding to WFP operations allows the World Food Programme (WFP) to respond proactively and to provide immediate food assistance in life-threatening situations.



TUR CONCERN Capacity Strengthening of local NGOs for Effective Refugee Response in Turkey

01.12.2016 - 31.01.2018

Civil Society (CS) in Turkey only recently has developed a humanitarian focus. INGOs, donors and the UN rely on a few natinal NGOs to compleent the governmental refugee respone, which is increasingly strained as the Sate is undergoing a severe crisis. Humanitarian CS initiatives have also emerged at local and provincial level, but there institutional and operational capacities are still weak. This project will stregthen the capacities of 10 local NGOs to conduct refugee assistance. 


Support to Village Councils in the West Bank with a focus on Area C

01.11.2016 - 31.12.2021

SDC will support local government units to improve the delivery of basic services in marginalized rural areas of the West Bank with a focus on Area C. This intervention is consistent with the State-building agenda which forms the basis for SDC development programme in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the promotion of human rights/international humanitarian law and the alleviation of poverty. It is aligned to the Palestinian Authority’s policy framework for Area C. Its operating modalities are harmonized with like-minded donors in the local governance sector.


Ecuador, Technical Support in Earthquake Resistant Reconstruction

18.10.2016 - 31.12.2018

An earthquake of the magnitude of 7.8 (Richter scale) hit Northern Ecuador, on 16 April 2016. Damages were widespread, collapsing structures within hundreds of km’s from the epicenter. Following SDC/HA’s emergency and early recovery interventions, SHA will provide the Ecuadorian government with technical support in capacity building on earthquake resistant construction, capitalizing SDC’s experiences from Pakistan and Haiti.

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