Interteam

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Interteam
logo
legal form society
founding 1964
Seat Lucerne , Switzerland
main emphasis Education, nutrition, health, violence prevention, peacebuilding
method Personnel assignments combined with project financing
Action space Africa , Latin America
Employees 65
Members 668
Website www.interteam.ch

As a Swiss aid organization for personal development cooperation , INTERTEAM works for children and young people in Africa and Latin America so that they can develop their potential and, as bearers of hope, help shape the future of their society independently. The help comes from professional assignments lasting several months to several years, combined with targeted project financing.

activity

The association stands for many years of experience, efficient structures and strong partnerships in the Global South. In Switzerland, Interteam is the point of contact for qualified professionals who want to work in development cooperation in the sense of solidarity.

The non-profit organization is financed through public, private and church funds and, as a ZEWO -certified aid organization , guarantees a targeted and effective use of funds .

history

The organization was founded in 1964 under the name of the German-Swiss Catholic Laity Aid Organization and recognized by the  Swiss Bishops' Conference  . Since 1965, the federal government has paid an annual contribution for each development worker at the plant, which was renamed Interteam in 1970. In 1976, intensive cooperation began with the second large sending organization in Switzerland, the Bethlehem Mission Immensee . The Swiss Association for Personnel Development Cooperation Unité was founded in the same year as Interteam: 1964. Since 1996, cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation  (SDC) has been contractually regulated through this association  . Interteam - now a secularized, modern development organization - has been negotiating directly with the SDC on the basis of four-year activity programs since 2003. In 2004 the association withdrew from Papua New Guinea and ended its engagement in Oceania. There are currently an average of 55 specialists working in Africa and Latin America . By 2014, the organization had around 2500 development workers under contract since it was founded. Today Interteam is represented in Namibia , Tanzania , Bolivia and Nicaragua with an independent country program, in Colombia the association operates on a project basis.

Tasks and requirements

The goals of sustainable development adopted by the UN in 2015 form the development policy reference framework for the association's work: tackling climate change , population growth and migration together.

The association's state programs focus on the five areas of education, nutrition, violence prevention, peacebuilding and health. A central point in the operations is capacity development, an approach to sustainably strengthening the own capabilities of partner organizations so that they can achieve their goals independently. This means that the deployed helpers are more active at the middle hierarchical levels of the partner organization and less at the grassroots level.

The requirement profile of the specialists has changed significantly over the years: In the beginning it was mainly idealists who took a back seat on their qualifications, today, similar to the  German Development  Service (DED), it is about qualified and specialized specialists who is employed for a period of two to three years. The experts are looked after in the country of assignment by a state program manager. Interteam attaches great importance to integrative behavior in the host country.

In addition to development missions abroad, raising the awareness of the Swiss public for the topic of development cooperation is an important field of activity of the organization. In addition, Interteam has been breaking new ground in the Global South since 2015 by supplementing its assignments of specialists with targeted project financing. Financing as a complementary strategy to the operations increases the impact of the specialists' work.

Countries of assignment and subject areas

Africa

  • Namibia
    • Subject area: Quality education for everyone.
  • Tanzania
    • Topic: Improving access to health and educational services for all.

Latin America

  • Bolivia
    • Subject area: Prevention and victim support for a life without violence.
  • Nicaragua
    • Subject area: Improving food security.

financing

The association is 48% financed by state funds from the SDC, while donations and grants from private individuals and the economy as well as income from courses and services make up the remaining income. In this way, the ZEWO -certified organization has an annual budget of around 4 million Swiss francs.

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