International Cooperation
Switzerland Cooperation Programme 2026-2029 for Somalia and the adjacent arid and semi-arid lands is a development framework that brings together the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration. The total budget is approximately 112 million Swiss francs (98 % from SDC) for four years. The strategy covers Somalia, Southeastern Ethiopia and Northeastern Kenya and focused on three transboundary migration and trade corridors connecting the productive hinterland with the urban centers. To do so Switzerland’s programme focuses on three interconnected outcomes:
- Peace and governance
- Human development
- Climate resilient economic development
Gender, Good Governance and Climate Change are mainstreamed across the portfolio as transversal themes.
The overall goal for Switzerland is to contribute to an inclusive and peaceful Somalia and adjacent arid and semi-arid lands in Northeastern Kenya and Southeastern Ethiopia through the promotion of sustainable economic and human development and bottom-up state building, benefitting the most vulnerable segments of the population.
Switzerland believes in joint action and therefore actively engages in local donor coordination mechanisms to enhance coherence, effectiveness, and collective impact. In this highly politicised and fragile context, Switzerland promotes a bottom-up and humanitarian-development-peace nexus-oriented approach that aligns humanitarian response, development programming, and policy dialogue.
By working closely with UN agencies, international financial institutions, government counterparts, civil society, and other donors, Switzerland supports joint action, coordinated planning, and co-creation of interventions that reduce fragmentation and strengthen local ownership.