At the end of 2017, Denmark and the Netherlands ended funding to The Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (Secretariat) – a joint NGO funding framework with the two countries, Sweden, and Switzerland.

In April 2018, Sweden confirmed that the Secretariat will cease operations, stating that the “program for supporting human rights organizations where four donors collaborated (Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Denmark) and which finished its activities according to plan by the end of 2017.”

Denmark provided an estimated $12 million to the Secretariat and its predecessors since 2006.

Our research reveals that of the 24 core NGO grantees, 4 have links to the PFLP terror group and 15 are deeply involved in BDS campaigns.

This decision came after more than a decade of NGO Monitor research and advocacy concerning the Secretariat, exposing its funding to radical and anti-Israel NGOs.

Our efforts also brought unrivaled results with the establishment of ethical guidelines in 2017, which deny funding to NGOs that support racism, antisemitism, and hate in Switzerland.

In March 2017, the Swiss Lower House of Parliament voted (111 to 78 with 4 abstentions) to “amend the laws, ordinances and regulations so that Switzerland can no longer subsidize, even indirectly, development cooperation projects carried out by NGOs involved in racist, antisemitic or hate incitement actions….”

On June 13, 2017, the Swiss Council of States (upper house) adopted the resolution. In September, the National Council signed the bill into law, which awaits implementation by the relevant government ministries. This story and NGO Monitor’s research on Swiss funding were covered by all major Swiss news outlets.