2025 funding freeze - Resource centre
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- 2025 Funding freeze – Resource Centre
Information for international organisations, NGOs and their employees in the context of the funding freeze.
The State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva has launched an extraordinary action plan to support International Geneva, which has been impacted by unexpected funding cuts.
On February 14, 2025, the Grand Council adopted a law on extraordinary financial aid from the State to non-governmental organizations in Geneva affected by the freeze on international aid, making it possible to grant financial aid to NGOs affected by the sudden and unpredictable decrease in external funding in 2025 in order to temporarily safeguard jobs based in Geneva.
On April 16, the State Council submitted to the Grand Council’s Finance Committee a request for a supplementary credit of 10 million francs to support Geneva-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Geneva-based NGOs, whose jobs are threatened by sudden and unforeseeable drops in external funding in 2025, can submit a duly reasoned request for short-time working compensation (RHT) to the Office cantonal de l’emploi (OCE), which will decide on a case-by-case basis. In case of a refusal, the substitution mechanism defined in the extraordinary cantonal action plan may support NGOs whose applications for RHT do not meet the granting criteria.
- For general questions on RHT, contact OCE at toll-free nb: 0800 90 90 90 (8am/12pm – 1.30pm/4pm), or by email: rht@etat.ge.ch
- Individual RHT applications must be submitted in advance on the Job-Room platform.
The law 13593 will come into force on April 25, 2025, and the application form for financial support will go online on the same day.
For further information on the procedure and conditions for granting financial support, and on how to process an application, please consult the dedicated booklet.
NGOs are invited to inform CAGI’s Civil Society Service of their difficulties and the extent of the impact of unexpected funding interruptions on their jobs and activities in Geneva by email: ong.cagi@etat.ge.ch
Information session
In order to present the extraordinary financial aid mechanism for NGOs and answer any questions, the Cantonal Office for Economy and Innovation (OCEI), the Cantonal Office for Employment (OCE), the Direction of International Affairs (DAI), as well as the International Geneva Welcome Center (CAGI), organize an information session on Tuesday, May 06.
Permis de travail : peut-on changer d’emploi si l’on perd le sien auprès d’une OI/ONG ? – OCIRT, État de Genève (French only).Contacts
Questions concerning the status of European nationals employed by NGOs can be addressed to the Office cantonal de la population et des migrations (OCPM) using the contact form.
For non-European nationals employed by NGOs, questions can be submitted to the Office cantonal de l’inspection et des relations du travail (OCIRT) using the contact form.
For European and non-European nationals employed by international organizations, please contact the Swiss Mission.
The cantonal employment office (OCE) has set up a hotline dedicated to questions from NGOs about collective redundancies and reduced working hours (RHT). You can call the freephone number 0800 90 90 90 from 8am to 12pm and from 1.30pm to 4pm. NGO human resources staff can also contact the OCE at rht@etat.ge.ch.
Founded by the Swiss Confederation and the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the International Geneva Welcome Centre is the single entry point for the support and integration of employees of International Geneva and their families, NGOs and visiting delegates.
Contact
By appointment only: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12 pm / 2 pm to 4:30 pm
La Pastorale: Route de Ferney 106, 1202 Genève
Access by public transports (TPG): Line 5: stop Intercontinental; lines 8, 20, 22, 60: arrêt Appia. No parking on site.