[ad_1]
In the run-up to Christmas, the Swiss can no longer rely on “the snow falling silently.” White Christmases are increasingly rare. And this year we should no longer sing under the Christmas tree.
But something is as always: Advent is a time for giving. The requests for donations had never reached the house as numerous as before Christmas. This December, however, the aid organizations themselves received mail: from the Swiss government’s development aid organization, the Directorate for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Build wells, yes they explain, no
In a letter to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), SDC confirmed what it had previously informed them orally: Aid organizations that receive money from the state can continue to build wells in Africa, but can no longer use this tax revenue to provide information. in Switzerland. which is why some people do not have access to clean water.
This new regulation, on which the “Tages-Anzeiger” reported, is a direct result of the corporate responsibility initiative (Kovi), which wanted to hold large corporations such as raw materials giant Glencore and food multinational Nestlé responsible for foreign subsidiaries. At the end of November, a small majority of those who voted voted in favor of the initiative. However, it failed due to the number of cantons, that is, due to the majority rejection of the cantons.
Volksmehr leaves Bern cold
The result does not lead to a rethinking in the Bundesbern. The Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) of the Federal Councilor of the FDP Ignazio Cassis (59), to which the SDC belongs, increasingly works with companies such as Nestlé in development aid. And Cassis’s party friend, the Zurich Council of States Ruedi Noser (59), even recently demanded the cancellation of the tax exemption for non-profit organizations as soon as they become politically active.
Is the SDC tightening the screws on NGOs under pressure from corporations and bourgeois politicians? It seems that. The new regulation only emerged after the vote. The FDFA protests the charge of giving in to business pressure. At the same time, however, it confirms that the NGO’s commitment to Kovi is the reason for the new regulation.
Criminal charges against Solidar Suisse
For decades, for example, it was accepted that state-backed aid organizations sell badges through schools and, in return, provide them with informational material that illustrates why there are great inequalities in the world.
So far, however, it is already forbidden for NGOs to use the grants to use the grants for use in voting campaigns. However, the aid organization Solidar Suisse violated this provision and had to reimburse federal funds. The Junge SVP has even filed a criminal complaint against the aid organization for this reason.
However, NGOs will not allow themselves to sit on the fact that all aid organizations should bleed for this mistake and that educational work in Germany should no longer be possible for everyone. They want to go to the barricades, as BLICK knows. He does not see any legal basis for the new SDC rules.
SDC specifications “not acceptable”
In response to a VIEW request, the FDFA cannot actually provide a legal basis for the new regulation. “The barrier to official action is the law,” said foreign politician Fabián Molina (30) of the SDC. For the SP National Council and co-chair of the aid organization Swissaid, their approach is “unacceptable.”
The SDC’s approach appears to be particularly arbitrary when considering Swiss efforts to strengthen civil society in emerging countries. Because in doing so, it relies on local non-governmental organizations. Meanwhile, aid organizations in this country will be silenced. “Apparently the ideology blinds you,” says Molina. “I cannot explain in any other way the fact that federal authorities are responding to the popular vote in Kovi with a muzzle project for aid organizations.”
It is not yet clear whether the aid organizations will take political action against the arbitrariness of the authorities or take legal action. One thing is clear: it will certainly not be contemplative for the SDC after the holidays.
