Switzerland

UNHCR and Switzerland closely collaborate to provide protection and assistance to forcibly displaced and stateless persons in humanitarian emergencies around the world, while also promoting durable solutions.

Switzerland’s flexible and multi-year contributions enable UNHCR to better plan its response and direct its support where it is needed the most, especially in underfunded contexts. Moreover, Switzerland’s emergency funding for sudden crises helps UNHCR to promptly scale up its assistance in emergency situations. For example, in 2025, with Switzerland’s additional humanitarian funding, UNHCR was able to provide crucial support to persons affected by the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, as well as to those impacted by increased fighting in Sudan, including Sudanese refugees in Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt. Additionally, with Swiss support, key assistance could be maintained to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, as well as to displaced persons and returnees in Syria.

UNHCR and Switzerland also partner to advance localization. Swiss support in Bangladesh, Brazil, Türkiye, Uganda, and Moldova has strengthened local refugee response capacities and facilitated the transfer of knowledge and technical expertise to local partners.

International Geneva is also a shared key priority. With Swiss financial support, UNHCR and Switzerland co-hosted the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review in Geneva in December 2025. The event helped maintain momentum and assess progress in implementing the pledges made at the Global Refugee Forum 2023, advancing the Global Compact on Refugees, with Geneva at its core.

UNHCR also joins with the Canton of Geneva to enhance the way Geneva-based organizations work, helping to make International Geneva more agile and forward-looking, including through collaborations with FAGI.

Moreover, in the context of UN reforms, UNHCR is partnering with Switzerland to make humanitarian aid more innovative and efficient, including through the use of digital tools and solutions that improve response efforts. For example, with Swiss support, UNHCR’s Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions leverages technology to reduce costs, enhance payment security, and improve access to financial systems for UNHCR and other humanitarian partners.

Finally, UNHCR also greatly benefits from Swiss capacity support and technical expertise, including through secondments and junior professional officer (JPO) deployments. Additionally, since 2021, UNHCR and Switzerland have teamed up to run the Geneva Technical Hub (GTH), which brings together Swiss academia and expert practitioners to tackle complex technical problems, share learnings, and find solutions that can be applied in diverse UNHCR operational contexts. In 2025, the second phase of the GTH was launched with additional partners on board.