Laura Ebneter

In October 2023, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) took a decision that has largely escaped public notice. It is about including "private sector instruments" in development financing, and could hold far-reaching implications for the poorest countries in the South.

Fragile statehood is one of the biggest obstacles to effective and sustainable poverty alleviation. Alliance Sud has discussed the opportunities and limits of international cooperation in fragile contexts with Professor Christoph Zürcher.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, European countries have primarily been upgrading the army rather than stepping up solidarity. Feminist voices are calling for a more comprehensive peace policy – including in Switzerland.

Global inequality is growing steadily – unlike development financing by OECD members. Rich countries like Switzerland rely mainly on dubious accounting practices to whitewash their contribution.

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.

Does the brutal military attack on Ukraine signal the beginning of the end of globalization, as is being put about by many sources? An attempt to take stock.

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.

Switzerland's many negative spillovers include environmental pollution, arms exports and tax evasion – and they are undermining international efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.