Wed, Apr 10th 2024
The Federal Council wants to pledge CHF 5 billion to Ukraine, igniting debate on its impact on global development aid. Critics argue vital funds are being redirected.
The Federal Council wants to support reconstruction in Ukraine with a total of five billion Swiss francs until 2036. Aid organisations criticise that this will “shortchange” development aid. This was decided by the Federal Council at its meeting on Wednesday.
The Swiss Confederation has been supporting Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022: for the humanitarian needs of the population, for economic development and for the long-term reconstruction of the country.
The federal government has spent around three billion francs on this since the start of the war. Around CHF 425 million of this came from the international cooperation budget. In addition, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has spent around CHF 2.5 billion on the admission of people with protection status S.
The Federal Council now wants to increase its support. Over the next twelve years, it wants to invest even more in reconstruction and promote cooperation with the private sector. In a first step, around CHF 1.5 billion is to be requested from international cooperation until 2028.
The development policy working group Alliance Sud, which brings together several Swiss aid organisations, immediately criticised the decision. It was completely unacceptable that the CHF 1.5 billion for the first tranche to come entirely from the budget for international cooperation.
From 2025, Ukraine would receive more money than all bilateral programs of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in sub-Saharan Africa combined.
For the period from 2029, “further financing channels” beyond international cooperation will then be examined in order to finance the 3.5 billion francs.
According to the World Bank, a total of around CHF 440 billion is likely to be required for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
©Keystone/SDA
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