Switzerland continues cooperation with UN development fund

Switzerland will continue to contribute to the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). The development fund of the United Nations has now issued a corresponding?statement?to this end. It explains that the Swiss representation praised the UNCDF’s “exceptionally successful” work in recent years at the?first meeting in 2023 of the Executive Board?of three UN development bodies (UNFPA, UNDP, UNOPS). For example, non-core funding has more than doubled in this period.

This shows that the UNCDF “covers a very relevant niche”. The organization, which was founded in 1966 and has a financing mandate, seeks to primarily look after the 46 least developed countries (LDCs) in the world.

As the statement explains further, for these reasons, Switzerland intends “to maintain the size of its core contribution over the coming years, despite budgetary constraints, in order to continue to contribute to the financing of the UNCDF’s core tasks, without which successful operation is not possible. We encourage other member states to follow suit and contribute to long-term continuity of UNCDF’s operations through core funding”.

The UNCDF?tweeted?on February 16 that it is “happy and proud” that Switzerland is a strong supporter of the world’s poorest countries. Switzerland is continuing its “successful and fruitful collaboration with UNCDF”. In so doing, the country is playing its part in making public and private finance work for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).