Geneva plans to pay NGO wages after US foreign aid freeze
I would expect no less . . .
The Swiss city of Geneva is planning to pay CHF10 million (One CHF (Swiss Franc) = $1.11 US Dollar) of NGO worker wages following the United States decision to freeze humanitarian aid for 90 days.
I guess the Swiss are telling the US to pound sand. I would expect nothing less from the Swiss. Of course not in the US would this happen. My conversations with the Swiss has been rather animated at times to get my point across.
Geneva plans to pay NGO wages after US foreign aid freeze – SWI swissinfo.ch
(NGO stands for Non-Governmental Organization. NGOs are independent, nonprofit organizations that are not directly controlled by the government.)
Geneva is the world capital of human rights, international law and humanitarian aid. The United Nations has its European headquarters there. Organizations such as the ICRC and Doctors Without Borders send humanitarian aid workers all over the world from Geneva.
But instead of being able to help elsewhere, International Geneva now needs help itself. US president Donald Trump’s decision to stop humanitarian aid affects more than 450 NGOs based in Geneva.
Around 250 of these NGOs employ staff, some of whom are paid with US money. According to Geneva’s Economic Affairs Director Delphine Bachmann, a few NGOs have already laid off their employees.
Bachmann told Swiss public broadcaster RTS that there would be mass layoffs involving several dozen people. Because NGOs are subsidized, they cannot apply for short time work to save on wage costs and find new sources of income. That is why the Geneva government agreed on an emergency plan this week.
The Emergency plan
It wants to make a CHF10 million available over 90 days to provide financial support to NGOs in need. The aim is to save jobs, said Geneva’s finance director Natalie Fontanet. “They are all legally in Switzerland, work in Geneva and pay into the social security system like everyone else.”
For the government’s CHF10 million emergency plan to come into force, the Genevan parliament must approve it at its next session.
Geneva will not receive any help from Bern. Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter has already made that clear: “It is not the federal government’s role to plug the holes that the US is creating or could create.”
I don’t see how the term “pound sand” applies here. That term is normally used in situations where there is significant emotional investment over an outcome by both parties to a dispute. I can’t think of anyone in the US that will get worked up over Geneva spending 10M Swiss francs to support local employment nor do I believe Geneva expects any such reaction to happen. It feels like Geneva has a plan to spend a little bit to give employers 90 days to work their revenue and employment issues. How big the problem is isn’t easy to tell. Characterizing “several dozen” as “mass layoffs” doesn’t seem that accurate, but it’s one city in a sector that maybe was previously thought of as nearly immune to unemployment. Losing a job is stressful, so best luck to those in Geneva.