Climate, water and nutrition

Members of the international community, which is continuing to provide financial support for the humanitarian response to the crisis in Yemen, joined the pledging event co-hosted by the governments of Sweden and Switzerland and organised in conjunction with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The global food crisis is one of the main challenges the world faces today. As is often the case, it is the most vulnerable people who are affected first and suffer disproportionately from its impact. In response, SDC acts in a collaborative and crosscutting manner to mitigate it.

Millions of people are affected by the consequences of the drought in East Africa. Parched soils and dying livestock are destroying livelihoods and leading to a food crisis on a vast scale – the situation is dire. The SDC is also active in the region, supporting development projects and humanitarian relief efforts to mitigate the crisis.

Mozambique and Zimbabwe are two of the priority countries for Switzerland's international cooperation work. In November, Nicolas Randin, SDC Assistant Director General and head of the Sub-Saharan Africa Division, paid working visits to Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

828 million – this is the staggering number of people currently suffering from hunger worldwide. That's 10% of the world's population. Climate change, conflicts, COVID-19, and economic crises: the ongoing global food crisis has multiple causes and triggers, all of which are placing enormous stress on communities. The food crises that result from these triggers can also reduce people's lives to a struggle for survival.

The SDC has been working in Egypt since 2017 to improve drinking water management and make water distribution more equitable in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the Aswan Governorate. Egypt, where COP27 is being held in early November, is among the African countries with the highest water stress.