Use of federal subsidies by the NGO Swisscontact

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs

Key facts

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) rely on Swiss non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to implement policies in the areas of humanitarian aid, development aid and economic cooperation. For the first time, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has verified the use of federal financing allocated by these offices to one of these organisations, Swisscontact (SC). This foundation ranks first among Swiss NGOs in terms of federal subsidies. It receives annual federal support of some CHF 70 million. In 2018, SC received a basic contribution of CHF 6.5 million, as well as CHF 63.6 million for the performance of SDC and SECO mandates awarded under public procurement rules. This sum represented 70% of the NGO’s revenue.