Federal Council continues support for the Swiss Human Rights Institution
Bern, 06.05.2026 — The Federal Council today decided to submit to the Federal Assembly a spending ceiling of CHF 3.93 million for the Swiss Human Rights Institution (SHRI) for the period 2027–30, thus maintaining the same level of funding as in the previous period.
Following the Federal Council's approval on 13 December 2019 of the project to create a national human rights institution (NHRI), the SHRI was founded in Bern on 23 May 2023. The SHRI is an independent institution tasked with contributing to the promotion and protection of human rights in Switzerland. It provides information, documentation, research, advice and awareness-raising services. To that end, it works with federal, cantonal and communal authorities, as well as with NGOs, the private sector, the scientific community and international organisations. In accordance with the Federal Act on Measures pertaining to Civil Peace Support and the Promotion of Human Rights, funding for the SHRI is provided jointly by the Confederation and the cantons.
NHRIs are a recognised part of the international human rights architecture. Today, some 120 countries, including almost all European countries, have such institutions. Based on the Paris Principles adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, these institutions play a complementary role to state mechanisms for the protection of human rights.