5 October 2014 No 23/24 ISSN 1664-7963 Current Concerns PO Box CH-8044 Zurich Current Concerns Switzerland The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, Phone: +41 44 350 65 50 Fax: +41 44 350 65 51 and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law E-Mail:
[email protected] Website: www.currentconcerns.ch English Edition of Zeit-Fragen “Where there are conflicts, we have a very important role” The long Swiss humanitarian tradition Interview with Ambassador Martin Dahinden thk. At the end to global challenges such as food securi- What we have accomplished is that we of the month ty, water scarcity or climate change. Fur- are now more broadly supported than be- September the thermore, there are many events that have fore. Today, there is less criticism on the Director of the shaped this time. In 2008, the financial development cooperation. The Parliament Swiss Agen- and economic crisis began, and we saw has increased the credits. This is an ac- cy for Devel- the great humanitarian catastrophe in knowledgment of our work and the im- opment and Haiti, the Arab spring and the outbreak of provements we have made. For me per- Cooperation the conflict in Syria. These were all im- sonally, it is also a success that we have (SDC), Am- portant events in this period. A milestone done well in the examination of the OECD bassador Mar- that I particularly like to remember was countries. The OECD has acknowledged tin Dahinden, the 50th anniversary of the SDC.