Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

The partnership between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is very significant for our development work in Pakistan. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in 2018 signed an agreement that will help ensure that Pakistan’s efforts to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals are guided by evidence, research and open policy dialogue. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation also funded UNDP’s programme on strengthening rule of law in Malakand district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In partnership with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, our work on justice sector reforms included initiatives at both the community and institutional levels.

Mr. Daniel Valenghi, Head of International Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Pakistan, said, “The universal agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals – which Switzerland helped draft and which applies to it and the developing countries in equal measure – provides an important frame of reference for Switzerland's cooperation with Pakistan, alongside other core instruments such as the international human rights treaties. SDC places special emphasis on the building of trust between Pakistani citizens and the state of Pakistan, through better governance, access to justice and the protection of human rights.”

The support from SDC helped in providing legal services to marginalised and vulnerable populations through legal aid clinics and bar associations in KP. These clinics equipped vulnerable populations with information on their basic rights and access to the justice system. Women paralegals were trained to assist vulnerable women in accessing the justice system. Female legal practitioners were encouraged to enter mainstream legal practice by providing them with regular stipends that motivated them to continue their practice of law after graduation. Mobile legal aid clinics were held near remote populations and communities in need of legal aid in Malakand district. With the clinics increasingly streamlined and efficient, these services encouraged public use. Community Policing was introduced in Malakand district to help increase citizens’ confidence in their interactions with police

Our past collaboration on projects includes the Gender Support Programme, Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment, Environmental Education Promotion, Support to Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II formulation, Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative and the Essential Institutional Reforms Operationalization programme.

The work of UNDP in Pakistan is made possible by the personal, financial, and professional commitments of its international and national partners. We actively engage in an array of development partnerships with all stakeholders, both national and international, working together in all phases of the development cycle, from programme design, implementation, review and revision, to lessons learned and best practices. Our partners play a crucial role in promoting and financing strategies that will enhance the capacity of developing countries to attain the sustainable development goals.

For more details on the SDC’s work in Pakistan, please click here.