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Switzerland actively supports the reform of the Security Council to enhance the accountability, transparency and coherence and supports substantive exchanges in the relevant Groups of Friends on the Protection of Civilians and Mediation, as well as in the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.

Switzerland is committed to strengthen and support efforts to mainstream human rights issues throughout the entire UN system, in particular as an early warning instrument within those institutions whose work focuses on the UN peace and security pillar, inter alia by supporting the Human Rights Up Front Initiative and by encouraging regular and more systematic exchanges between the human rights bodies based in Geneva (Human Rights Council and the OHCHR and the Security Council).

Switzerland is committed to support the multilateral initiative "Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes" (GAAMAC), which focuses on putting in place the necessary national measures for the prevention of (mass) atrocities through working with national governments and stakeholders and sharing good practices and lessons learnt.

Switzerland is committed to the continued co-chairmanship of the Group of Friends on the Protection of Civilians.

As Co-Chair of the International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF), Switzerland commits to adhere to and promote the 2016 €œStockholm Declaration on Addressing Fragility and Building Peace in a Changing World€.

Switzerland is committed to address the root causes of violence, conflict, and fragility and to strengthen and expand partnerships for effective peacebuilding, statebuilding and conflict prevention.

Switzerland is committed to further strengthen its and others'™ capacities in regard to peacebuilding such as facilitation, confidence building and mediation on policy as well as on the operational level.

Switzerland is committed to increase the effectiveness of peacebuilding endeavors by offering specific training courses for mediators and their teams, as well as for conflict parties engaged in dialogue and peace negotiations.

Switzerland is committed to strengthen the UN peacebuilding architecture based on a recent review. Switzerland also supports the recommendations to strengthen conflict prevention made by the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (A/70/95-“S/2015/446) and the subsequent implementation report by the UN Secretary General (A/70/357-€“S/2015/682).

Switzerland is committed to support the UN'€™s efforts in sustaining peace and preventing countries from lapsing or relapsing into conflict by extending and increasing its financial support to the Joint Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention of the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Switzerland is committed to use the New Deal principles and the Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals (PSGs) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, especially in protracted humanitarian crises.

Switzerland is committed to the continued support of the Burundi configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission as a platform for long-term peace-building efforts in Burundi.

Participation of women in the political, social and economic sphere is a priority of Switzerland's foreign policy. Switzerland specifically commits to promoting greater and meaningful participation of women at all levels and stages of peace processes, humanitarian action and post-conflict reconstruction, and will advocate for and strengthen women'€™s leadership in disaster risk management, in particular in cooperation with multilateral partner organizations.

Switzerland is committed to promote inclusive conflict transformation processes, in particular through dialogue with political actors with religious reference.

Switzerland is committed to strengthen the participation of women in peace processes and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

Switzerland is committed to the universal implementation of Agenda 2030, including its Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies.

Switzerland commits to support dialogue with all parties to armed conflict to enhance their knowledge and respect for IHL.

Switzerland commits to support mine action as an enabler for peace and security, humanitarian action and development, on the basis of its national mine action strategy.

Switzerland is committed to the continued co-chairmanship of the Group of Friends on the Protection of Civilians.

Switzerland commits to clearly distinguish humanitarian action from the political agenda, including by preventing the use of Swiss humanitarian aid for political purposes. Furthermore, it commits to consistently respect and promote respect for humanitarian principles, and in line with its obligation under international humanitarian law, to ensure conducive environments for humanitarian actors and facilitate humanitarian action that is based exclusively on needs and conducted without discrimination. Switzerland further commits to providing more core funding and reducing earmarking thereby enabling humanitarian actors to develop the financial independence necessary for principled humanitarian action. It commits to developing public education programs to disseminate humanitarian principles, informed by social and cultural traditions.

Switzerland commits to engage in endeavours to ensure safety and security for humanitarian actors and the protection of the medical mission, including by fostering a principled approach, by enhancing the dialogue with all parties to armed conflict and by developing relevant standards and policies.

Switzerland commits to raise awareness of the potential of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission and of its services, including good offices and confidence-building, and to encourage the resort to the Commission as well as the recognition of its competence in accordance with article 90 of the first Additional Protocol of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

Switzerland is committed to strengthen and support efforts to mainstream human rights issues throughout the entire UN system, in particular as an early warning instrument within those institutions whose work focuses on the UN peace and security pillar, inter alia by supporting the Human Rights Up Front Initiative and by encouraging regular and more systematic exchanges between the human rights bodies based in Geneva (Human Rights Council and the OHCHR and the Security Council).

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is to become a new priority topic for the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Department from 2017 onwards. In relation to this new priority theme and the Call to Action roadmap, the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Department commits to develop and implement an internal operational concept for SGBV prevention and response, which outlines the following priorities, actions and resources: 1) capacity of personnel of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Department on SGBV prevention and response is strengthened; 2) sufficient resources for the implementation of the commitments are made available and internal tracking of GBV funding is enhanced; 3) implementation of Call to Action commitments by key partners (UN etc.) is systematically monitored and GBV in emergencies is a regular topic in policy dialogue with these partners and; 4) international policy and advocacy opportunities for the promotion of the Call to Action are being used.

Switzerland commits to advocate for the respect of international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law as well as the rule of law when countering terrorism. International humanitarian law carves out important protections for principled humanitarian actors, including offering services to all parties to armed conflict. Counter-terrorism measures may recast such activities as unlawful support for terrorism or designated terrorist groups. Therefore, Switzerland commits to engagements to ensure that principled humanitarian action is not affected by counter terrorism measures and that potential dilemmas between norms are addressed including by way of the necessary exemptions for humanitarian action.

Switzerland commits to promote the Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Switzerland commits to promote the universalization of the Rome Statute, to cooperate with and support the International Criminal Court and other mechanisms to ensure accountability and justice for victims at the national, regional and international levels, including by non-judicial measures.

Switzerland commits to promoting compliance by States and non-State actors with international law, including international humanitarian law, human rights law as well as international refugee law in relation to gender-specific violations and gender equality norms.

Switzerland further commits to tackling SGBV from a short- to long-term perspective through its humanitarian and development programmes.

Switzerland commits to support endeavours that aim at rendering the UN humanitarian system fit for purpose, including by strengthening engagements for the protection of civilians. Switzerland also commits to support endeavours that strengthen other humanitarian actors such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as regional and local actors.

Switzerland commits to support the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, in particular those relevant to forced displacement and migration (i.e. Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons and other), with a view to strengthen a human rights based approach to forced displacement and migration.

With regard to WHS core commitment 2 under the Uphold the Norm roundtable, it is the understanding of Switzerland that the references to "working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas" and "€œsparing civilian infrastructure from military use"€ do not restate or modify existing obligations and do not create new ones beyond those enshrined in existing and applicable norms of international humanitarian law.

Switzerland acknowledges the crucial role played by local and national authorities as well as host communities, and commits to support them whenever possible and feasible with targeted measures.

Switzerland commits to address the protection needs of people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and climate change, in particular through the promotion and implementation of the Protection Agenda of the Nansen Initiative at the different levels, and its active engagement within the new Platform on Disaster Displacement.

Switzerland commits to promote international human rights law and international humanitarian law as well as other internationally recognized protection standards, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which seek to ensure protection and assistance of those forcibly displaced internally. Switzerland further commits to promote regional protection frameworks such as the Kampala Convention and encourages and supports the elaboration of such frameworks in other regions of the world.

Switzerland commits to promote the universal ratification, as well as the full and effective implementation of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Protocol of 1967, and in particular the right to seek asylum as well as the principles of non-refoulement and responsibility-sharing, at the bilateral and multilateral level within the relevant fora.

Switzerland commits to support sustainable solutions, in particular for protracted displacement situations catering to refugees, IDPs, returnees as well as host communities through: 1) joint analysis and programming frameworks, 2) an earlier engagement of development actors, 3) the integration of target populations in long-term development plans, in order to increase the protection, resilience and self-reliance of forcibly displaced persons.

Switzerland commits to support the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, in particular those relevant to forced displacement and migration (i.e. Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons and other), with a view to strengthen a human rights based approach to forced displacement and migration.

Switzerland is committed to work towards more equitably sharing of responsibilities for refugees and to create, particularly for vulnerable people, additional legal pathways for admission. Switzerland is further committed to support first hosting countries in their capacities to provide refugee protection.

Switzerland supports the call by the Secretary-General to adopt a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing which should build on the principles of protecting displaced persons, ensuring their self-reliance and assistance to host communities, as well as preventing situations of forced displacement in the first place.

Switzerland supports the need to address forced displacement based on an integrated, multi-stakeholder approach, by engaging more systematically and coherently with all relevant actors, including the civil society, academia and the private sector. In a similar vein, Switzerland also commits to promote enhanced coordination and cooperation across the UN system, through system-wide objectives, followed up with system-wide funding. It will for instance promote the alignment of UNDAFs and the humanitarian strategic response plans at country level in order to improve coherence and efficiency.

Switzerland will also engage in addressing the root causes of forced displacement, including through the framework of the 2030 Agenda, as well as for instance through long-term engagement of development actors, particularly in fragile contexts, contributing therewith to state-building and peace building efforts.

Participation of women in the political, social and economic sphere is a priority of Switzerland's foreign policy. Switzerland specifically commits to promoting greater and meaningful participation of women at all levels and stages of peace processes, humanitarian action and post-conflict reconstruction, and will advocate for and strengthen women'€™s leadership in disaster risk management, in particular in cooperation with multilateral partner organizations.

Sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights are a priority of Switzerland's foreign policy. Switzerland promotes sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for all, including full reproductive choices for women, men and adolescents. Switzerland commits to promoting sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights through its bilateral and multilateral engagement (Commission on the Status of Women, Human Rights Council, including the Universal Periodic Review) as well as its development and humanitarian interventions, including by supporting key partners with core contributions (UNFPA, UNAIDS, IPPF, WHO Human Reproduction Programme).

Switzerland commits to advocate for and strengthening women'€™s leadership in disaster risk management either through direct actions and funding or in cooperation with multilateral partner organisations.

Switzerland commits to promoting compliance by States and non-State actors with international law, including international humanitarian law, human rights law as well as international refugee law in relation to gender-specific violations and gender equality norms.

Switzerland commits to supporting the roll-out of the new IASC age and gender marker, continues to track the gender-responsiveness of its own humanitarian action and increases its efforts in presenting gender-results including sex disaggregated data in all its humanitarian work.

Switzerland commits to upholding its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol and to support the implementation of General Recommendation 30 of the CEDAW Committee on Women in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations.

Switzerland is committed to strengthen the participation of women in peace processes and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

Switzerland, based on the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, commits to promoting gender equality as a strategic objective in its new strategy for international cooperation 2017-2020. This will apply to all operations and engagement in humanitarian aid, both for operational and policy work, and throughout all stages of an emergency.

Switzerland commits to ensure that 50% of leadership positions in the Swiss Cooperation Offices in humanitarian contexts are held by women by 2020. 

Switzerland commits - at all stages of humanitarian and development interventions - to seeking and heeding the voices of affected communities and grass-roots organizations.

Switzerland commits to build community resilience in countries where protracted humanitarian crisis are linked to drought and environmental degradation.

Switzerland commits to increase the use of cash as a powerful programming modality to be considered systematically alongside other tools, e.g. vouchers, in-kind, accordingly with affected population's needs and preference.

Switzerland commits to invest in capacity-building of local government, as well as other local actors, including civil society.

Switzerland commits to scaling up cash programming in humanitarian crises, and designing these programs so that they can eventually become national social protection systems.

Switzerland commits to support coordination models/solutions for the delivery of cash-based transfers within the existing humanitarian architecture and to promote greater national leadership wherever possible, based on context specificities, best practices and lessons learned from the country and regional levels.

Switzerland commits to supporting its main partners to use cash in emergency, alongside national capacity, existing systems and social protection programs in place.

In its economic development cooperation, Switzerland commits to support partner countries to reduce the financial vulnerability of the state to natural disasters by improving their financial response capacity in the aftermath of natural disasters, while protecting their long term fiscal balance.

Participation of women in the political, social and economic sphere is a priority of Switzerland's foreign policy. Switzerland specifically commits to promoting greater and meaningful participation of women at all levels and stages of peace processes, humanitarian action and post-conflict reconstruction, and will advocate for and strengthen women'€™s leadership in disaster risk management, in particular in cooperation with multilateral partner organizations.

Switzerland commits to a proper and coherent use and effective coordination of foreign military assets in humanitarian action based on the Oslo Guidelines and common humanitarian civil-military standards for deploying, employing, receiving, integrating and coordinating foreign military assets in natural disasters.

Switzerland commits to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks by dedicating human and financial resources to support implementing the Sendai Framework for DRR and other international efforts to reduce disaster and climate risks. 

Switzerland commits to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks by planning to allocate over the next four years 1/6 of its international humanitarian aid budget to disaster risk reduction and resilience building.

Switzerland commits to advocate for and strengthening women'€™s leadership in disaster risk management either through direct actions and funding or in cooperation with multilateral partner organisations.

Switzerland commits to build community resilience in countries where protracted humanitarian crisis are linked to drought and environmental degradation.

Switzerland commits to strengthen disaster preparedness and response through partnership and cooperation amongst practitioners, and to use the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW) as a platform for collaboration to develop solutions to the recurring challenges faced by responders.

Switzerland commits to support and invest in the institutional capacities of Red Cross / Red Crescent National Societies, including preparedness, response and coordination capacities, especially in fragile context and where communities are vulnerable to conflicts, disasters, recurrent outbreaks and the effects of climate change.

Switzerland commits to support national and local partners in developing effective disaster risk reduction management abilities and capacities, especially in the field of urban search and rescue.

Switzerland promotes - as 2016-2017 Co-Chair of the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) - initiatives and programmes, which aim at increasing people's access to early warning mechanisms and weather data such as the Climate Risk Early Warning System (CREWS), the GFDRR-WB/WMO Hydromet Programme and the Small Islands States Resilience Initiative (SISRI).

Switzerland supports the development of new analytical and financial mechanisms that help the international community to act preventively before a disaster or a pandemic outbreak strikes.

Switzerland supports the generation of climate change-relevant knowledge and data, to enhance capacity development of partners and institutions and to support the sharing and application of sound climate change knowledge and data decision-making and as a contribution to relevant climate services.

As Co-Chair of the International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF), Switzerland commits to adhere to and promote the 2016 €œStockholm Declaration on Addressing Fragility and Building Peace in a Changing World€.

Switzerland commits to further coherence between humanitarian, development, and civilian peacebuilding actors, notably through joint context analysis, joint strategic planning, as well as close operational cooperation.

Switzerland commits to further shift its development cooperation to fragile and conflict-affected contexts in order to strengthen governance and peacebuilding, hence decreasing vulnerability and increasing resilience.

Switzerland commits to operationalise, to adhere to and to advocate for the Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets to Support United Nations Humanitarian Activities in Complex Emergencies (MCDA Guidelines) as well as related policies and co-ordination mechanisms. This includes in particular the endorsement of common standards, which should govern the use of foreign military assets in humanitarian action.

Switzerland commits to provide smarter, more effective and more targeted development support in fragile and conflict affected contexts, including in humanitarian crisis.

Switzerland commits to rigorously applying and strengthening "Conflict-Sensitive Programme Management" in its bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Switzerland commits to strengthen its "€œWhole of Government"€ approach between different parts of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs responsible for humanitarian aid, development cooperation, and civilian peacebuilding, as well as to increase the number of Joint Swiss Cooperation Strategies.

Switzerland commits to support a reform of the UN development system, which would include the introduction of some system-wide objectives, followed by system-wide funding, in order to help orient the incentive structure towards results.

Switzerland commits to support sustainable solutions, in particular for protracted displacement situations catering to refugees, IDPs, returnees as well as host communities through: 1) joint analysis and programming frameworks, 2) an earlier engagement of development actors, 3) the integration of target populations in long-term development plans, in order to increase the protection, resilience and self-reliance of forcibly displaced persons.

Switzerland commits to work more closely with humanitarian and development actors and to promote increased incorporation of conflict-sensitive and longer-term development approaches into humanitarian operations in protracted crisis situations.

Switzerland is committed to the universal implementation of Agenda 2030, including its Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies.

Switzerland commits to increase the proportion of humanitarian financial support which is programmed by local and national responders.

Switzerland commits to increase the proportion of total support to funding tools, including pooled or umbrella funding, which helps to increase and improve assistance delivered by local and national responders. These include, as appropriate, UN country-based pooled funds (CBPFs), the IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF), as well as NGO-led pooled funds, with the goal of strengthening local and national responders.

Switzerland commits to invest in capacity-building of local government, as well as other local actors, including civil society.

Switzerland commits to support and invest in the institutional capacities of Red Cross / Red Crescent National Societies, including preparedness, response and coordination capacities, especially in fragile context and where communities are vulnerable to conflicts, disasters, recurrent outbreaks and the effects of climate change.

Switzerland commits to support endeavours that aim at rendering the UN humanitarian system fit for purpose, including by strengthening engagements for the protection of civilians. Switzerland also commits to support endeavours that strengthen other humanitarian actors such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as regional and local actors.

Switzerland works towards ensuring that contributions to UN led country-based pooled funds will result in at least 25% of funding for local and national actors by 2020.

In its economic development cooperation, Switzerland commits to support partner countries to reduce the financial vulnerability of the state to natural disasters by improving their financial response capacity in the aftermath of natural disasters, while protecting their long term fiscal balance.

Switzerland commits to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks by dedicating human and financial resources to support implementing the Sendai Framework for DRR and other international efforts to reduce disaster and climate risks. 

Switzerland commits to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks by planning to allocate over the next four years 1/6 of its international humanitarian aid budget to disaster risk reduction and resilience building.

Switzerland commits to allocate 1/6 of its international humanitarian aid budget to disaster prevention and preparedness interventions and initiatives between 2017-2020.

Switzerland commits to further shift its development cooperation to fragile and conflict-affected contexts in order to strengthen governance and peacebuilding, hence decreasing vulnerability and increasing resilience.

Switzerland is committed to strengthen the UN peacebuilding architecture based on a recent review. Switzerland also supports the recommendations to strengthen conflict prevention made by the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (A/70/95-“S/2015/446) and the subsequent implementation report by the UN Secretary General (A/70/357-€“S/2015/682).

Switzerland is committed to support the UN'€™s efforts in sustaining peace and preventing countries from lapsing or relapsing into conflict by extending and increasing its financial support to the Joint Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention of the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Switzerland commits to achieve at least 30% of funding to humanitarian organizations that is unearmarked or softly earmarked by 2020.

Switzerland commits to prioritize multi-annual plans in protracted crises through the use of flexible multi-year financing instruments.

Switzerland commits to strengthen its "€œWhole of Government"€ approach between different parts of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs responsible for humanitarian aid, development cooperation, and civilian peacebuilding, as well as to increase the number of Joint Swiss Cooperation Strategies.

Switzerland commits to support the testing of new and bold models to go to scale, and identify best practice and risks in each context, from sudden-onsets to protracted crisis.

Switzerland commits to increase inter-donor collaboration to improve and streamline interactions and lessen the burden on local and national responders.

Switzerland commits to keep at least the current level of contributions to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), considering the Secretary General's call to expand CERF to $1 billion by 2018.

Switzerland commits to understand and further explore, together with the private sector, innovative financing mechanisms aiming to generate funds for the most vulnerable and unprotected victims of disasters, wars and conflicts.