Humanitarian Affairs
As the world's humanitarian capital, Geneva acts a unique platform and access for stakeholders. Most major humanitarian organizations are headquartered in Geneva, including ICRC, IFRC, UNHCR, IOM, UNDRR; others are present through a bureau. Many international humanitarian NGOs are also in Geneva.
The Humanitarian Affairs Section represents Switzerland's interests within these organisations and:
- Acts as interface between all of the actors present in Geneva and the relevant Swiss federal authorities in the areas of humanitarian affairs and migration;
- Participates in governing bodies or working groups of organisations of which Switzerland is a Member;
- Promotes matters of priority to Switzerland in the humanitarian sector, including international humanitarian law, protection for civilians in armed conflict, disaster risk reduction and improved humanitarian coordination;
- Supports the development of tools geared towards improving the quality of the emergency response, including by using AI in a targeted and ethical manner, to reinforce efficiency and the way different organizations complement each other;
- Ensures Switzerland's active participation in current reform processes of the humanitarian sector (Humanitarian Reset / UN80 New Humanitarian Compact) as well as global humanitarian processes such as the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the World Humanitarian Summit;
- Supports special initiatives such as the UNSG's Action Agenda on internal displacement, supported by Switzerland in its capacity as chair of like-minded Governments, or the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2730 on the protection of humanitarian and UN staff;
- Promotes International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by supporting initiatives such as the Global Initiative to galvanize political commitment to IHL, and through a number of activities such as governmental expert meetings on IHL to strengthen its implementation at the national level.