Program contribution to Helvetas, 2023-2024

• Water, Food & Climate: 493’987 people (PB only), incl. 234’134 women, have improved their access to land, water, or healthy food, increased agricultural productivity or enhanced capacities for improved and climate resilient living conditions in 2021. 177 local authorities have increased capacities for WASH in PB projects. While 14 multi-stakeholder partnerships (PB and non-PB projects) for integrated watershed management and improved resource efficiency have been established
• Voice, Inclusion & Cohesion (outcome 2): Helvetas supported 24’842 migrants, incl. 16’676 women, and empowered 3’332 people to claim their rights through PB projects. Furthermore, 307 local authorities, CSOs and networks (PB only) were strengthened, and 7 policy changes, 5 conflict transformation platforms, and 6 approaches to counter negative migration impacts have been supported (PB and non-PB project)
• Skills, Jobs & Income (outcome 3): 160’101 people (PB only), incl. 87’415 women, have gained access to education, skills, jobs, or additional income, while 6’836 businesses were supported in PB projects. Furthermore, policy changes related to decent work and pro-poor innovations were achieved in 4 countries. Overall, direct beneficiary targets for SJI for 2021 have been achieved or overachieved
• Switzerland (outcome 4): In 2021, Helvetas reached 4.2 million people in Switzerland with online and offline activities, while akte reached 193’000 travellers online and 2.266 million offline, as well as 1’000 tourism professionals online and 150 offline

• In 2021, Helvetas identified four good practices on strengthening local civil society partners to become actors in their own right, which are included in the international pro-gramme. Among them: sub-grants and grant support mechanisms that allow CSOs to implement local initiatives, while strengthening their capacities along the way (see projects in Serbia, Bhutan, and Myanmar)
• When it comes to Gender & Social Equity (GSE), 50% of the people reached by Helvetas in 2021 were women and 57% from disadvantaged groups. Furthermore, eight countries had a GSE principal project in 2021, and 19 country programmes as well as head office departments applied and reported on their GSE leadership diamonds in 2021

In partnership with public and private actors, Helvetas: 

1. Enables people to gain sustainable access to natural resources, safe water, sanitation and hygiene, to nutritious and healthy food, and to technical and financial support services for improved and climate resilient living conditions in rural and urban areas
2. Amplifies the voices of local communities and enhances the space for civil society and private sector actors to meaningfully participate in decision-making processes while developing capacities of public institutions to deliver socially inclusive and gender responsive services, and articulate transformative policies that reduce inequalities, enhance social cohesion, promote human rights and promote safe and productive migration
3. In partnership with public and private actors, including the competence centre fair unterwegs - Working Group on Tourism and Development, akte, Helvetas promotes basic education, skills development and private sector development as well as financial inclusion to create gainful employment and income opportunities for the poor. To access and develop such opportunities, its partners are supported in enabling disadvantaged youth to acquire basic, vocational and life skills for a life in dignity
4. Helvetas and its partner akte contribute to a better understanding of different facets of sustainable development, including tourism, and respective behavioural change among the Swiss population (for this outcome no SDC-programme contribution must be used)

• Helvetas strengthens local civil society and country ownership in accordance with the provisions of the “OECD-DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society” and the relevant “GPEDC principles”
• By 2024, Helvetas has further strengthened gender and social equity (GSE) at operational and management level

Phase 26 01.01.2023 - 31.12.2024   (Completed)