The Switzerland Embassy in Nigeria says it supports small-scale development projects in the country with a total sum of $100,000 (N15 million) annually.
This was contained in a report signed by Ralph Stamm, the project attaché at the embassy, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to the report, the support is part of the embassy’s development assistance, which started in 2010 and targeted at reducing poverty in the country.
The report said: “This amount is used to support five to six small-scale projects per year in various fields.
“Experience has shown that even on a small-scale, considerable and widespread effects could be achieved.”
The report showed that the projects were designed to specifically assist local group initiatives whose aim was to contribute to the country’s overall economic progress.
It added that the support was given more to dynamic actors of civil society groups, particularly women and representatives of minorities.
It stated that the essence of the support was to generate sustainable reforms and overall improvement of living conditions in the country.
The report said that the embassy prioritised projects that had promising and long-lasting effects and supported projects in the areas of agriculture, water, sanitation, health, good governance, human rights and education as well as gender and legal assistance.
According to the report, the embassy supported the St. Nicholas Women Association with the purchase and installation of production and processing machines for cassava and yam in 2012.
It stated that Legal Defence and Assistance Project, an NGO, was also supported in training 300 policemen from six police stations in Lagos, to improve their skills in handling domestic violence.
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