Switzerland re-establishes presence in Kabul with humanitarian office

Switzerland’s foreign ministry announced on Monday it re-established its presence in Kabul by opening a humanitarian office to assist Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations.

The ministry said in a statement that with 24 million people in Afghanistan relying on humanitarian aid and most of the population living below the poverty line, the office aims to provide critical support.

Four specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA), along with ten local employees, are now working on the ground. Their efforts are focused on ensuring that vulnerable communities receive the necessary resources to meet their basic needs, helping to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country, the statement read.

Since the IEA’s takeover in August 2021, Switzerland closed its cooperation office in Kabul and evacuated all its staff.

According to the statement, initially, the SDC team responsible for Afghanistan continued its programmes from Bern. Since February 2023, it has been operating from the Pakistani capital Islamabad and conducting regular visits to Kabul in order to continue the SDC’s programmes for Afghanistan.

This was a much-needed move in order to better respond to the needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan, according to the SDC’s deputy director general and head of its Humanitarian Aid Division, Dominik Stillhart.

Effective support for vulnerable communities requires direct dialogue with the people, efficient coordination between the aid organizations on the ground and a comprehensive understanding of the situation. This applies to all crisis areas where humanitarian aid is needed, not just Afghanistan. SHA members must be in a position to provide a flexible and rapid response to local people’s needs. This can only be achieved with a field presence, said Eric Marclay, who heads the office in Kabul.