Selected posts

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  • guest-article

    Mobilising private finance: many open questions

    Since the UN Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in 2015, the international community has been almost at one in repeating the mantra: only by mobilising private finance will it be possible to fund the Sustainable Development...

  • current-events,guest-article

    No clean slate for the West

    The problem is not the United Nations, but the pursuit of self-interest by Member States. A case for values-based and human-centred multilateralism. The United Nations (UN) was set up in 1945 in the aftermath of the Second World War to serve as...

  • guest-article

    Wer wird in unserer Gesellschaft zurückgelassen?

    Handabdrücke in rot auf Mauer

    Der Leitsatz «Niemanden zurücklassen» bildet das Herzstück der Agenda 2030 und ist die Voraussetzung für eine inklusive und chancengerechte Gesellschaft. Die Zeit für die Umsetzung der 17 Nachhaltigkeitsziele ist aber knapp. Diese Ziele können...

  • current-events,position-statement,policy-coherence

    Switzerland is living at the world’s expense

    A group of people stands on the Bundesplatz with large SDG cubes and a large globe.

    Switzerland is not on course for a sustainable world. That's the verdict from Platform Agenda 2030 in its new report, out today. It is calling upon the Federal Council to show more leadership in the transformation needed to halve poverty,...

  • guest-article

    Shrinking civil society space in times of war

    Ukrainische Frauen sitzen im Kreis und diskutieren

    In wartime, it is dangerous to leave the house to go to the mailbox or the bakery. There is no safety, not even in the immediate neighborhood. The war in Ukraine provides a clear example of this. Even where there is no open warfare, NGOs and...

  • current-events,policy-coherence

    Country of missed opportunities

    Implementation of Agenda 2030 in Switzerland Switzerland is known for cheese, chocolate and mountains. The Swiss are not known for speedy adaptation to new political realities. Swiss women only got the right to vote 50 years ago. Also the...

  • current-events,guest-article

    COVID-19 was a big test for UN migration initiatives. Did they succeed?

    Arbeiter auf Baustelle

    Acknowldegement: This blog post was first published on openDemocracy. Migrants working in frontline jobs are twice as likely to contract the coronavirus. They are also less likely to access basic services. During the springtime lockdowns in...

  • current-events

    Putting sustainability front and center on the political agenda

    Two social movements took the streets in Switzerland in 2019, mobilizing crowds of historic size. With an ubiquitous presence in mass media, they changed Swiss public discourse, overshadowing sterile discussions on migration driven by...

  • current-events

    SDGs: Swiss civil society gets organised

    Alliance Sud, the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, the Environment Alliance and the Centre for Peacebuilding are coordinating how the Swiss civil society can help the Sustainable Development Goals on the road to succes. Which Swiss NGO is...