Switzerland freezes CHF1.25 million in MSF funding over misconduct reports

Switzerland has frozen CHF 1.25 million in funding to Médecins Sans Frontières after the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation concluded that the organisation failed to meet its reporting obligations over sexual misconduct allegations in Chad. The suspended tranche is part of a CHF 6.25 million commitment to MSF for the year.

The move follows an internal MSF investigation that identified 59 reports of sexual violence and exploitation involving staff, particularly allegations concerning women and girls who fled Sudan for neighbouring Chad. MSF dismissed 18 employees, including six from its Swiss branch, according to NZZ Am Sonntag.

The case has put the flow of information between the Geneva-based aid organisation and Swiss officials under scrutiny. The SDC received an initial alert in November 2024, but the scale of the allegations became public after AP reporting in June 2026. Switzerland says MSF breached its contractual duty to report. The Confederation is considering further sanctions.

The allegations involve 59 reported cases of sexual violence and exploitation, according to an internal MSF inquiry cited by NZZ Am Sonntag. The newspaper said the claims included staff exchanging money, jobs or humanitarian aid for sex, exploiting the distress of refugee women and girls.

The people affected were particularly women and young girls who had fled Sudan’s civil war and sought refuge in Chad. The conflict has driven hundreds of thousands of people across the border, while the wider Central African region has faced a major humanitarian crisis since 2023.

MSF took disciplinary action and dismissed 18 staff members after its investigation. Six of those dismissed worked for the NGO’s Swiss branch. The allegations have prompted scrutiny of how humanitarian organisations protect people who rely on assistance, and how they report misconduct to public funders. The Swiss government’s funding decision concerns MSF’s contractual relationship with the Confederation, following its assessment that the organisation did not adequately inform Swiss authorities.

Swiss officials received an initial warning in November 2024, when staff at MSF’s Geneva headquarters emailed the SDC about allegations raised by three female refugees in Chad. The NGO said the claims were already under investigation. The email arrived shortly before the end of the working day, according to NZZ Am Sonntag.

In mid-December, officials at the foreign ministry agreed that a meeting with MSF would take place in January. Discussions on handling the case resumed in June and July 2025. In February 2026, SDC and MSF representatives met to discuss protection against sexual exploitation, but the newspaper reported that Switzerland received no new information at that meeting.

The allegations became a public scandal in June 2026 after AP published reports about the case. The SDC then demanded documents from MSF. The sequence has sharpened questions in Bern about whether the Confederation received timely and adequate updates while allegations mounted and disciplinary measures were being taken.

The Swiss foreign ministry says MSF breached its contractual reporting obligation. NZZ Am Sonntag reported that mistrust of the organisation within the Confederation is now immense, after officials learned the scale of the allegations through press reports rather than earlier disclosures from MSF.

The SDC’s suspension applies to CHF 1.25 million, a portion of the current year’s CHF 6.25 million pledge. The government is also considering further sanctions. That leaves the future of Switzerland’s funding relationship with the organisation under review as MSF’s acknowledged reporting failures are assessed alongside the response to the allegations.

The episode places accountability duties at the centre of Switzerland’s humanitarian funding policy. Public money supports aid work, and the SDC says recipients must meet contractual reporting requirements. For MSF, the Swiss decision follows dismissals after its internal investigation and a demand from the SDC for documents. For the Confederation, the next steps will determine whether the funding freeze remains limited to this tranche or forms part of broader action.