Small but excellent - this is how Switzerland likes to present itself and its development assistance. The Swiss do not even try. Rather, they emphasize quality. Other policy concerns, however, interfere with this concept, such as their position on flight capital.
Assistance is more or less unconditional, and the instruments are very flexible.
Proof is in the selection of partners, predominantly low income countries, and the concentration on rural development and food security. In the past, however, the Swiss were not exactly the most generous donors. Despite good intentions on the part of the government the federal council to increase the volume of development assistance in future years by 8 per cent annually, parliament the council of states and the national council again applied the budget brake. In view of its deep economic recession even rich Switzerland must economize. At any rate, the Swiss have a bad conscience.