Andreas Missbach has been the new Director of Alliance Sud since January. The social scientist and avid mountain hiker has no fear of contact with the market and relishes attacks from political adversaries.

The Taliban took power in Afghanistan last August. Life is dominated by hunger, cold and despair. But there is also resistance and faint hope, as recounted by an Afghan who lives in Kabul and works for an international non-governmental organisation.

At the last annual meeting with the development organisations, Federal President Ignazio Cassis laid out his three most important quality criteria for Switzerland's international cooperation, namely, reliability, trust and predictability… Bingo!