Swiss Government Contribution to the ICRC Headquarters' Appeal 2022 (Sitzbudget IKRK)

The ICRC is an independent, neutral organization ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. It takes action in response to emergencies and at the same time promotes respect for international humanitarian law and its implementation in national law.

The work of the ICRC is based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their Additional Protocols, its Statutes — and those of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement — and the resolutions of the International Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The four Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I confer on the ICRC a specific mandate to act in the event of international armed conflict. In particular, the ICRC has the right to visit prisoners of war and civilian internees.

The Conventions also give the ICRC a broad right of initiative. In non-international armed conflicts, the ICRC enjoys a right of humanitarian initiative recognized by the international community and enshrined in Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions.

Humanitarian aid is an important plank of Switzerland's foreign policy strategy. Switzerland and the ICRC defend the same principles: the aim to protect all victims of armed conflict without distinction and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.

As depositary state of the Geneva Conventions, Switzerland has a long history of close relations with the ICRC. The legal status of the ICRC in Switzerland as a Swiss private law association that carries out an international mandate, is laid down in a 1993 Headquarters Agreement. The agreement was amended for the first time on 27 November 2020 in order to respond more effectively to global challenges and increasing digitalization. The importance of the ICRC and the Swiss contribution to the ICRC headquarters of CHF 80.0 million is confirmed in Switzerland's International Cooperation Strategy 2021-2024.

The institution is the most important partner of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the humanitarian field. One third of the SDC Humanitarian Aid budget is allocated to the ICRC.

The core contribution reflects Switzerland's interest for the ICRC to have a strong and well-established headquarters in Geneva. For the ICRC, Geneva acts as a hub for fostering relations with the UN agencies, the Permanent Missions and the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The promotion and systematic support of International Geneva is part of Switzerland's foreign policy strategy.

The cooperation between Switzerland and the ICRC is based on a Memorandum of Understanding between the FDFA and the ICRC.

The ICRC continuously strengthens its capacity to protect and assist through law, policy and operation. ICRC's field implementation rate was at 87.3% in 2020 and 82% in 2021 with a presence in over 100 countries. The decrease in the implementation rate is due to COVID-19 according to the ICRC. The ICRC managed to reach numbers of conflict-afflicted people amongst others visiting 1,043 places of detention holding 860,094 detainees in 78 contexts and reunifying 981 people, including 773 minors with their families. 1,504,199 phone and video calls were facilitated between family members, including migrants, people in quarantine or COVID-19 treatment facilities, and detainees who could not receive family visits owing to COVID-19 prevention measures.

ICRC engagement with governments and intergovernmental bodies to improve IHL acceptance and compliance led in 2020 to 42 ratifications of or accessions to IHL treaties by 35 States.

The ICRC continued to invest considerably to drive innovation and further develop its engagement with the private sector.

The digital transformation and its implementation within the ICRC has been thought through intensively in the last years, and a Digital Transformation Strategy has been adopted as a consequence (ICRC Strategy 2019-24 (strategic orientation 5)).

The ICRC has expanded its activities in building up responder capacities of National Societies (NS). The ICRC and the IFRC committed through jointly signed resolutions and pledges at the 32nd International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference to scale up investment in National Societies via joint, pooled funding mechanism. The National Society Investment Alliance (NSIA) was set up in 2017 by the two organizations to invest in capacity-building and organizational development of NS.

The ICRC contributes to localizing humanitarian aid through a more significant humanitarian response by the Movement. IFRC/ICRC coordinated and jointed appeals in the COVID-19 appeal in 2020 and 2021. These joint appeals work well and are appreciated by donors. In 2020, the total expenses devoted to cooperation with National Societies in the field amounted to CHF 97.6 million.

The "Reference Frame", guiding the two institutions' partnership, has been discussed at the occasion of the yearly Senior Management Meeting of the FDFA and ICRC.

The ICRC is a driving innovative force, including digitalization, ensuring organization-wide uptake. Beside many innovative projects being implemented in contexts where it makes sense, the ICRC is clearly positioning itself as a pioneer in the domain. It puts the beneficiary in the centre of their strategy. Innovative thinking and digitalization are not only a mean to reach out better to people, but also a game changer in how the humanitarian aid is carried out and perceived by the beneficiaries and the world. It serves to put accountability first.

Digitalization is a priority topic for the ICRC as it is rapidly shaping how humanitarian operations and assistance activities are carried out, impacting how the humanitarian sector is serving affected populations. But associating data with digital identities inevitably creates issues of privacy and security. ICRC try to balance the benefits and risks introduced or amplified by these technologies while protecting rights to privacy and confidentiality.
And while the consequences of data breaches in peaceful, developed societies are likely to be limited to inconvenience, for refugees, they could more easily become matters of life and death. The risk of misuse of data may indeed have a serious impact on data protection rights of displaced persons and can be a detriment to their safety, as well as to humanitarian action more generally.

The secondment in Cash Transfer Programming (CBT) contributed to the development of policies, guidance and implementation of the cash modality and to a stronger anchoring of CBT on ICRC institutional level. The secondment of an Inclusive Programming Advisor strengthened ICRC's diversity approach. The secondments in wash also reinforced ICRC wash's capacities.

In 2021, Switzerland supported the ICRC with multi-bilateral contributions with a total amount of CHF 72.65 million.

The ICRC strives to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its work and to increase its accountability, first to its beneficiaries, and second to external stakeholders, particularly donors.

Given the challenging dynamics of today's conflicts, the ICRC focuses within its Institutional Strategy 2019-2022, extended for two years until 2024, on areas such as strengthening protection and prevention, ensuring a sustainable humanitarian impact, digital transformation, and partnering with others.

Talks around International Humanitarian Law are maintained after the conclusion of the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2019. Two expert meetings, organized by Switzerland, took place in 2020 and 2021 (on medical missions and voluntary report) and the next one is planned for 2022 (on climate change).

Innovation / Private Sector: The implementation of the PHII-HIB is going well. Nonetheless, the ICRC is considerably investing in the development of New Financial Mechanism (NFM) in cooperation with the private sector.

With its capacity to analyse trends of a fast changing world the ICRC embraces digitalization to reach out to beneficiaries, all by ensuring that no harm is done and fundamental principles are being respected. The organization is advocating for considered use of digitalization in the humanitarian sector on different platforms of discussion with private, academic and governmental sector, as well as through project engagements.

ICRC delegations coordinated with IFRC and the respective NS to help build local responder capacity. Still, a clear vision of a long-term plan on capacity building needs to be better articulated. Between 2019 and 2021, three calls for proposals were completed and 25 National Societies were selected for funding. NSIA funding remains a challenge.

Close collaboration with NS are crucial, especially in contexts where access to people is difficult. The ICRC has always developed capacities of local National Society to improve first response to an emergency as well as for emergency preparation. Collaboration with the IFRC is a necessity to develop a holistic common approach towards capacity building of NS especially in longer lasting conflicts. SDC-HA is committed to the NSIA and continues to fund the mechanism and to advocate for, as it represents the strategic approaches with regard to capacity building and localization (Grand Bargain). As Switzerland, together with the US, Canada and Norway, is one of the few contributors to the NSIA fund, funding activities have to be intensified.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the importance of local actors has risen and so has the role of the NS, especially due to the travel restrictions of international aid workers. Localization has gained value and reputation.

The exchanges have been deepened along the "Reference Frame" in order to identify synergies and new fields of cooperation. Focus in the 2021 dialogue: COVID 19, climate change and digitalization.

Since the launch in 2017, the ICRC is implementing the first Humanitarian Impact Bond (HIB/PHII) in Physical Rehabilitation; Switzerland acts as one of the main outcome funder. The project will end in 2022. Close monitoring of the progress of the HIB/PHII programme continues through regular meetings of the implementer, the investors and the result financers. Successes and challenges are constantly discussed and the programme is optimized based on the findings.

Digitalization was one of the main topic of FDFA/ICRC strategic dialogue in 2021 (see above). It will remain in the centre of our common preoccupations in 2022 and the following years. On January 18, 2022, ICRC determined that the personal data on more than 515,000 people worldwide was accessed by hackers. Switzerland will reinforce its cybersecurity dialogue with ICRC and promote appropriate and concrete solutions to reinforce ICRC's cybersecurity.

The deployment of Secondments continues to be used to reinforce ICRC capacities and serves SDC strategy.

Information on the progress of the implementation of the ICRC Institutional Strategy 2019-2022 is supplied through bilateral, senior management and high-level meetings, the membership of the Donor Support Group as well as through the participation in field visits. For 2022, Switzerland's budget for multi-bilateral contributions amounts to CHF 64.5 million.

With regard to ICRC headquarters donors, Switzerland's contribution of CHF 80.0 million is on rank 1.

The main other donors of ICRC headquarters are: US, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, and Italy.

For headquarters and field, the main other donors are: US CHF 543.6 million, Germany 247.5 million, UK CHF 152.9 million and the EC CHF 130.9 million.

Coordination and the use of synergies take place through the regular meetings of the ICRC Donor Support Group (DSG), bilateral formal and informal exchange as well as the exchange at the occasion of field visits (delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic).

Phase 21 01.01.2022 - 31.12.2022   (Completed)