Climate change, food and water crises as well as migration increasingly affect the development prospects of low- and middle-income countries. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has launched a series of thematic global programmes and is engaged in international policy dialogue in a bid to address global challenges and to promote globalisation that favours development.
Global challenges do not stop at national borders. Global public goods, such as water and air, belong to no one, but are accessible to everyone. In this area, traditional forms of international cooperation are in many cases no longer adequate. What is needed are internationally agreed solutions.
While the industrialised countries and emerging economies are mainly responsible for the consumption and depletion of limited resources, it is above all the low- and middle-income countries and disadvantaged population groups that must bear the consequences.
The SDC places special emphasis on managing global risks and challenges as well as utilising opportunities. In doing so, it supports low- and middle-income countries in embracing development opportunities and in adapting to global changes.
