Today, the Swiss government has approved CHF 58.7 million (about EUR 60 million) to continue supporting Ukraine in the areas of digitalisation and e-governance over the next four years.
"In this way, Switzerland is promoting democratic reforms in Ukraine through digitalisation and at the same time increasing the transparency of public services. Both areas are crucial for Ukraine's reconstruction," the Swiss government's press service said in a statement.
It stressed that thanks to the support of Switzerland and other international partners, it was possible to promote digitalisation in the public administration system and meet the growing demand for digital services.
"An important component of this success is the Diia app, which is now used by more than 20 million Ukrainians, for example, to pay taxes or renew their driver's licence," the statement said.
This initiative was made possible by the E-Governance for Accountability and Participation (EGAP) project, which promotes the digital transformation of Ukrainian governance and has been supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) since 2015.
EGAP is also increasing transparency and reducing the vulnerability of the Ukrainian administration to corruption.
"As EGAP is successfully digitising public services and promoting transparency in Ukrainian administration, the Federal Council has decided that Switzerland will continue to support the project. The SDC will provide a total of CHF 58.7 million over the period 2024-2028," the government said.
The funding will come from the regular budget of international cooperation and will focus in particular on projects in regions directly affected by the war and which are important for the future recovery of the nation.
Key areas of focus will include healthcare, education and humanitarian demining.