Solidar Suisse
Solidar Suisse (until 2011 Schweizerisches Arbeiterhilfswerk SAH) is a Swiss nonprofit organization that fights for fair working conditions and democratic participation on four continents in developing and emerging countries and provides humanitarian aid in the event of disasters. In Switzerland, Solidar Suisse uses innovative campaigns to show the effects consumer behavior has on workers in Asia and Africa. Solidar Suisse is a registered association and employs 150 people.
history
In 1932, the Proletarian Children's Aid was founded as an aid organization for the children of Swiss unemployed people. From 1933, the relief organization, headed by Regina Kägi-Fuchsmann , organized recreational stays for French working -class children under the new name of Arbeitserkinderhilfe der Schweiz and also expanded its activities to include France and Austria .
In 1936 the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and the Swiss Social Democratic Party founded the Swiss Workers' Relief Organization. Their aim was to support needy working-class families at home and abroad. The new organization also provided humanitarian aid in the Spanish Civil War . After the outbreak of World War II , the organization became active in helping refugees. As part of the “Colis Suisse” campaign, the SAH, in cooperation with numerous volunteers, sent food parcels to refugee camps in Europe. In doing so, it supported tens of thousands of war refugees.
For the first time, the SAH became politically involved in a voting campaign in Switzerland in 1947, namely in favor of the introduction of old-age and survivors' insurance . From 1949 the SAH - as one of the first Swiss aid organizations - provided international development aid, including a. in Greece , Palestine / Israel and Yugoslavia and after the Algerian war also in Algeria and Tunisia . In 1951 the SAH became a founding member of the International Workers' Relief Organization IAH, which was renamed SOLIDAR in 1995. Together with Österreichische Volkshilfe, the SAH provided extensive assistance to the Hungarian refugees during the 1956 popular uprising . The occupation of Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring , the civil war in Biafra and the repression of the opposition by the military regime in Greece resulted in the flight of thousands of politically persecuted people who were supported by the SAH. After the popular uprising in Nicaragua , a large solidarity movement for Central America emerged in Europe in the 1970s. The SAH sent volunteers to Nicaragua and carried out a large-scale literacy campaign. In 1986 the aid worker Yvan Leyvraz was murdered by Contras in Nicaragua .
Since then, the organization has continuously expanded its development cooperation:
- In 1974 the first well construction project was carried out in Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso ).
- After the Pinochet regime came to power in Chile and the military coup in Turkey, asylum applications in Switzerland increased. From 1984 the SAH campaigned against the regular tightening of asylum law.
- After the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a rapid upheaval followed in Eastern Europe. In cooperation with local trade union federations, the SAH began in Romania with labor market measures and training programs for trade unions.
- In 1990 the SAH began working in South Africa .
Solidar Suisse is born
At the beginning of the 1990s, Switzerland was confronted with a new problem: unemployment rose from below one percent to suddenly five percent. The SAH then developed unemployment programs . The regional offices of the SAH were expanded and transformed into independent associations in 2005. These regional SAH associations in Switzerland remained under their previous name. The 11 regional associations continue to operate within Switzerland under the name Schweizerisches Arbeiterhilfswerk SAH. They are independent organizations from Solidar Suisse, while Solidar Suisse, the former foreign department of the SAH, is responsible for worldwide aid projects.
After the wars in the Balkans (1991–2001), the SAH became involved in Bosnia and Kosovo , after Hurricane Mitch (2000) in Central America, after the tsunami in Southeast Asia (2004), after the devastating floods in Pakistan (2010) and after the typhoon Hayan (2013) on the Philippines for the victims. The organization provided short-term emergency aid and has also been involved in reconstruction over the years. Solidar Suisse also provided emergency aid after the earthquake in Nepal , for the Rohingya in Bangladesh and the victims of the earthquake in Sulawesi .
Today's Solidar Suisse has also been involved in political campaigns in Switzerland since 2008. The more well-known campaigns since then include "Kehr $ eite - no exploitation with our taxpayers' money" (2008), " An $ toss - no exploitation at the World Cup" (2010), "Solidarity community rating - think globally, act locally" ( 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2019), "Fair Trade - what else?" (2011) and two campaigns for fair working conditions in the production of pans and toys (2016, 2017, 2018).
International work
Solidar Suisse is currently active in Bangladesh , Benin , Bolivia , Bosnia , Burkina Faso , China , El Salvador , Indonesia , Lebanon , Cambodia , Kosovo , Mozambique , Nepal , Nicaragua , Pakistan , Serbia and South Africa .
The main areas of work are:
Fair work
Together with local partners, Solidar Suisse campaigns for labor rights and social equality.
Democracy and participation
The organization believes that without democracy there can be no inclusive development. The relief agency works to strengthen democratically legitimized civil society organizations.
Humanitarian aid
With the humanitarian aid program, the organization aims to immediately and sustainably improve the living conditions of the victims of natural disasters or wars.
Campaign work
Overcoming poverty requires rethinking - also in the rich industrial nations of the north. With campaign work, Solidar Suisse in Switzerland draws attention to how Western consumer behavior affects people in developing countries.
organization
Networking
The organization sees itself as a politically left-wing aid organization: the founding and supporting organizations are the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions . Solidar Suisse implements many of its programs on behalf of the Swiss Government's Directorate for Development and Cooperation . Solidar Suisse is a partner organization of Swiss Solidarity and member of the European network Solidar includes the 60 agencies with social democratic and trade union background. Solidar Suisse is also a member of the Swiss Climate Alliance .
The organization is ZEWO -certified and its work abroad has an annual turnover of almost 20 million francs. Around a third of this comes from private donations and membership fees, the other two thirds are grants from the state, cantons and municipalities as well as contributions from Swiss Solidarity. In Switzerland, the NGO employs around 35 (approx. 20 full-time positions) and around 150 abroad, mostly local employees.
President
| year | President (supporting organization / function) |
|---|---|
| 1936-1940 | Adolf Lüchinger ( SP , Mayor of Zurich) |
| 1940-1955 | Paul Wieser |
| 1955-1970 | Adolf Maurer (SP, City Council Zurich) |
| 1970-1976 | Louis Joye ( SEV , SGB ) |
| 1976-1990 | Karl Aeschbach ( GBH , SGB) |
| 1990-1996 | Hans-Jakob Mosimann ( vpod ) |
| 1996-2003 | Regine Aeppli (SP, Councilor) |
| 2003-2008 | Ruedi Winkler |
| 2008-2018 | Hans-Jürg Fehr (SP, National Council) |
| As of 2018 | Carlo Sommaruga (SP, National Council) |
The Swiss Workers Relief Organization SAH in Switzerland
In Switzerland, ten independent regional SAH associations (Basel, Bern, Friborg, Geneva, Schaffhausen, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Central Switzerland, Zurich) in 16 cantons with around 900 employees work for disadvantaged people. They offer education, employment and work integration programs for unemployed and displaced people and support asylum seekers, refugees and migrants with advice and support.
The SAH is responsible for the Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH) and is involved in numerous associations for social and political issues in Switzerland.
literature
- Björn Erik Lupp: From class solidarity to humanitarian aid. The refugee aid of the political left 1930–1950. ISBN 3-0340-0744-2 .
Web links
- Solidar Suisse website
- International network Solidar
- Antonia Schmidlin: Swiss Workers Relief Organization (SAH). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Swiss Labor Assistance in the database Dodis the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
- Holdings: Schweizerisches Arbeiterhilfswerk SAH in the finding aids of the Swiss Social Archives
Individual evidence
- ↑ Solidar Suisse. In: Zefix - Central Company Index. Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) - Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), accessed on August 15, 2019 .
- ↑ http://www.cinfo.ch/de/solidar-suisse
- ↑ https://www.solidar.ch/de/solidaritaet-seit-1936
- ↑ 11 regional associations in 18 cantons and all language regions of Switzerland. SAH Switzerland, accessed on August 15, 2019 .
- ^ Solidar - Advancing Social Justice In Europe and Worldwide. Retrieved January 16, 2019 .
- ^ SAH Switzerland. Retrieved July 4, 2016 .