Annual Report 2022

The private sector is the engine of economic growth, generating income and jobs. From the outset, Swisscontact has worked together with the private sector to foster sustainable development and broad-based well-being in developing countries and emerging economies.

Swisscontact relies on systematic impact measurement. Consistent and comparable tracking and measurement of results in different projects is an integral part of project management and quality assurance for Swisscontact.This is what we achieved in 2022.

Whether new projects, adapted interventions or intensified collaboration with the private sector, various events defined 2022 for Swisscontact.

Swisscontact advocates the comprehensive and low-emission consumption of resources, adaptation to the effects of climate change, gender equity, and transparent decision-making processes. Various projects support access to essential financial services so that marginalised populations can have the required start-up capital and participate actively in the economy over the long term.

Together with the Hilti Foundation, and in close collaboration with leading local businesses and vocational schools, Swisscontact is creating a new vocational training model in Kenya. The project objective is to equip young people with the professional skills and abilities needed in the construction sector. Since starting in April 2022, the project has become a showcase for an employer-guided dual apprenticeship-based training model for Kenya’s construction sector as well as for other sectors and developing countries.

In June 2022, the Northeastern Lowland of Bangladesh was hit by once-in-a-century flooding, the effects of which are still felt today. Bangladesh is one of the countries most affected by climate change; economic damage to the agricultural sector is many times greater than the effects of Covid-19. In particular, smallholder farmers are vulnerable to weather-related risks, the intensity of which is steadily increasing due to climate change. They contend with losses from damage to seasonal crops or from animal illnesses and epidemics. Swisscontact is working with a multitude of private sector partners to provide adequate insurance protection in the agricultural sector.