Press releases, 26.01.2022

At its meeting of 26 January 2022, the Federal Council adopted the report 'Coordination of votes cast by Switzerland in UN organisations' (de, fr, it) in response to postulate 20.4145 by National Council member Marianne Binder-Keller. The report concludes that the existing coordination system has proven its worth. In order to meet the growing need for information by both Parliament and the public, the FDFA will in future also publish on its website how Switzerland voted.

Switzerland regularly takes positions on various multilateral issues in the context of UN votes. In order to ensure coherent Swiss positions, these decisions are aligned through a consultation process involving all interested Federal Administration offices. The decisions are based on key Swiss foreign policy documents. This ensures consistent decision-making at the multilateral level despite differing responsibilities. In its report in response to the Binder postulate, the Federal Council concludes that the existing system has proven its worth and should be retained. It has been in place since Switzerland joined the UN 20 years ago.

Parliament will continue to be involved
The Federal Council's decisions as to whether Parliament should be involved will continue to be made on the basis of applicable law and the criterion of 'importance. The parliamentary foreign affairs committees already participate today in the formulation of Switzerland's UN policy, in particular concerning its priorities for the UN General Assembly. The Federal Council considers that consulting Parliament on all resolutions and decisions, as called for in the postulate, would be impractical. Among other reasons, it notes that the UN system adopts a very high number of resolutions and decisions – about 2,000 – each year.

More information for the public
The FDFA will regularly publish on its website the results of votes and how Switzerland voted on all resolutions in the main political bodies of which it is a member. In addition, it will also publish on its website more information on key multilateral activities. The Federal Council thus recognises Parliament's and the public's need for transparency and for more comprehensive information on voting by Switzerland in the UN. The votes cast by Switzerland in the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Council can already be consulted on the UN website.


Further information:

Votes cast by Switzerland at the UN


Report in response to Binder postulate 20.4145 of 24 September 2020 (DE)(pdf, 1264kb)


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