The Exchange of Personnel between the North and the South:

Development with a Human Face

Who is UNITE?
UNITE is an association of various Swiss non-governmental organisations whose principal objective is to establish and reinforce the bonds of support and solidarity with the inhabitants of disadvantaged countries of the South.
The member institutions of UNITE work together with partner organisations in countries of the South and carry out, in Switzerland, the task of training people who want to commit themselves to development. They also try to make the public in Switzerland sensitive to the questions concerning relations between the North and the South.

Why UNITE?
A quarter of humanity lives in worse conditions than they did 25 years ago; the gap between rich and poor doesn't stop growing; armed conflicts and forced migration caused thereby; the globalisation of the economy and the standardisation of social relations have furthermore aggravated the situation.
UNITE wants to contribute to change this state of affairs. On the strength of its experience and that of its members in the field of the exchange of personnel with partners in the South, UNITE participates actively in diverse development co-operation activities which are recognised at Swiss and international levels. This bilateral co-operation work with the South is all the more important because it is carried out in favour of the base of civil society, at the behest of and for the direct benefit of local organisations and the concerned inhabitants.

By Which Means of Action?
With it's members, UNITE ensures the execution of a programme of action called The Programme of support and for the exchange of personnel for development co-operation between the North and the South, supported by the Swiss Development Co-operation (SDC), the development agency of the Swiss government. It reaches almost 40 countries in Latin America (55%), in Africa (35%), and Asia-Oceania (10%). The projects supported by this programme are located above all in the institution building, the social sector, health, education / professional training and agriculture.

And More Precisely?
This programme ensures the co-financing and the co-ordination of the activities that 25 Swiss institutions associated with UNITE and around 400 persons from the North and the South engaged in the exchange carry out and whose aim is to respond as adequately as possible to the needs of local organisations and the local inhabitants.

Principally, these activities are as follows:
  • the service of approximately 200 Swiss development workers in projects managed by partners from the South
  • the specific service of specialists, when demanded by partners from the South
  • the service of competent people from the South in the North
  • the direct exchange of knowledge and technology between partners of the South
  • (In-depth) formation: workshops, seminaries, field visits and practical courses for young people who have completed their training (arrangement of internships which allows them to acquire initial professional experience in the field of development)
  • awareness building in Switzerland concerning questions of development co-operation and North-South relations, mainly by the increased validation, in Switzerland, of the experience of people returning from service
  • giving support to local personnel (training, salaries) working with partners from the South
  • the setting up and running of co-ordination offices in the field, in order to reinforce the effectivity of the development workers

So UNITE's Programme wants to develop innovative lines in development co-operation activities between the North and the South. These lines are as follows:

1. Reciprocity in the exchange of people: Until today, the exchange flow in development co-operation has very often been oriented from the North to the South. So that a real co-operation in its complete sense can take place UNITE feels it is important to ask the follow-ing question: "What are the needs in the North to which people from the South can respond?" (South - North exchange). Thus the partners find themselves placed on the same level in order to practise an exchange in both directions.
Moreover UNITE supports the autonomy enhancement of Southern populations by direct South - South exchange in order to facilitate the direct exchange of knowledge and technology between partners of the South in a specific region or different countries.

2. Concrete validation of the experience of returned development workers: In UNITE's opinion, the exchange of people harbours a precious potential of experience which can be of service to Swiss society and it's institutions. Experience shows, in effect, that once they are back in Switzerland, development workers reveal themselves to be excellent analysts of North-South questions and trainers in development education. They are also indispensable "inter-cultural mediators" in an increasingly closed and intolerant socio-political context.

3. Greater taking into account of cultural factors: By its Exchange Programme, UNITE wants to promote the important cultural component inherent in every development project. The development worker is a veritable bridge between the different cultures. UNITE wants to bring its weight to bear in favour of tolerance, for the building of peace and for conflict prevention.

How Much does all this Cost?
The total budget for this North - South - North exchange is about 9,5 million Swiss Francs per year. This is a relatively modest sum in view of the number of people co-financed, in view of the number of institutions and local partners benefiting from it and if one compares it with the Swiss public aid budget (bilateral and multilateral aid), which reached a sum of the order of 2 billion Swiss Francs.

An indispensable type of development co-operation
The institutions active in UNITE are convinced that this type of development co-operation has its place in the overall Swiss development orchestra, and that it constitutes, by its specific focus on the support and exchange of personnel, an indispensable element thereof. In effect, UNITE, through its member and associated institutions, aims to respond in a coherent fashion to the legitimate needs expressed, on the one hand, by institutions and local inhabitants, of which many have been partners for quite a number of years, and, on the other hand, by new partners from the South who are looking for support from the North.
In addition, co-operation with countries of the South plays a role of primary importance in the prevention of forced migration and societal explosions, the consequences of which also concern our country. Finally, Swiss development co-operation institutions fulfil, here in Switzerland, an active role in the training, the information and the encouragement of the local population, with a view to deepening their knowledge of intercultural relations and the advantages this holds for the future of our societies.