NGO Monitor
October 20, 2005
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), a department within the Swiss Foreign Ministry, is very active in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. While its mission is to provide humanitarian assistance, SDC also provides funding for a number of NGOs with strong political agendas, such as Al Mezan, ARIJ, and "Dev.tv". These groups emphasize external issues including the justification of violence, rather than contributing to internal norms of good governance and civil society. The political emphasis on SDCs website and the indirect funding of other NGOs via Swisspeace are also inconsistent with and undermine central development goals.