Welcome to the Regional Office for the Horn of Africa
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) / Humanitarian Aid runs a regional office for the Horn of Africa which is integrated into the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The SDC office is in charge of all humanitarian activities supported by the Swiss Government in the five countries that comprise the Horn: Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea. The main challenges the regional office is dealing with are the effects of recurrent droughts in the region, chronic poverty and the war in Somalia.
In 2011 the Horn of Africa was marked by the biggest humanitarian crisis since decades. The worst drought in many years decimated the livestock of entire pastoralist communities and destroyed the harvests of large numbers of subsistence farmers. For large parts of Southern Somalia the UN had to declare a state of famine. Read more about the Humanitarian Aid in the Horn of Africa Dadaab: World’s Biggest Refugee Camp Turns 20 2011 / 2012 mark the 20th anniversary of the world's biggest refugee camp – Dadaab in north-eastern Kenya. The anniversary is a reminder of the suffering of the Somali people, who have been seeking safety and shelter for two decades. UNHCR, which manages the Dadaab complex, set up the first camps there between October 1991 and June 1992. This followed a civil war in Somalia that in 1991 had culminated in the fall of Mogadishu and overthrow of the Siad Barre regime. Read more About Swiss International Cooperation Switzerland invests about CHF 2.8 billion a year to combat poverty and promote economic development in countries of the developing world as well as in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Two federal offices coordinate international development cooperation on behalf of the Swiss Confederation: the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
Background Information on Selected Projects and Activities The SDC Regional Office Horn of Africa is working towards to a more peaceful and stable region, in which humanitarian needs are mitigated, livelihoods made more resilient and the necessity to flee human rights abuses and economic destitution are reduced. What follows is an insight into selected projects and activities. Contact Information Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Embassy of Switzerland International House Mama Ngina Street P.O. Box 30752 00100 Nairobi
Emergency in the Horn of Africa – Innovative and internationally coordinated refugee aid in the field
A portrait of Martin Zirn, an expert from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) and shelter planner with the UNHCR, provides an insight into the daily work of a humanitarian aid worker on a major emergency mission unfolding, namely, in the refugee camps for Somali refugees in Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado. See the video
Home
Contact
Home
Dadaab: World’s Biggest Refugee Camp Turns 20
2011 / 2012 mark the 20th anniversary of the world's biggest refugee camp – Dadaab in north-eastern Kenya. The anniversary is a reminder of the suffering of the Somali people, who have been seeking safety and shelter for two decades. UNHCR, which manages the Dadaab complex, set up the first camps there between October 1991 and June 1992. This followed a civil war in Somalia that in 1991 had culminated in the fall of Mogadishu and overthrow of the Siad Barre regime. 
Read more 
Contact Information
A portrait of Martin Zirn, an expert from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) and shelter planner with the UNHCR, provides an insight into the daily work of a humanitarian aid worker on a major emergency mission unfolding, namely, in the refugee camps for Somali refugees in Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado. 
Print
