Media Centre

The merger of HEKS/EPER and «Bread for All» became legally valid on 22 November 2021 with the inscription of the new foundation in the commercial register.

The latest hostilities between the Palestinian Hamas and the Israeli army lasted 11 days. Although the weapons have at last fallen silent, this latest round of violence in the Middle East too has brought only death and destruction mainly to the civilian population on both sides. Once again, families and children are the principal victims of the bloody conflict. HEKS/EPER is therefore providing humanitarian aid worth 250,000 francs for people in need in the densely populated Gaza Strip.

The political environment in Ethiopia is undergoing a period of radical transformation under a new Prime Minister who took office in April 2018 and launched a vast programme of political and economic reforms.  The violence has steadily increased in recent months. As a direct result, thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced. On the whole, HEKS/EPER projects in the country have so far not been directly affected.National elections are now scheduled for June 2021 and given their significance, further outbreaks of violence are to be expected throughout the country.

In times of Covid-19, HEKS/EPER has been able to build on the great solidarity of the entire Swiss population. The readiness to help people at home and abroad who are being particularly adversely affected by the consequences of the pandemic is reflected in the gratifying operating income for 2020. Thanks mainly to markedly higher donations, it amounted to CHF 78.8 million, which was roughly CHF 10.4 million more than in 2019.

On 1 February, the military seized power in Myanmar. De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest and a one-year state of emergency declared. What is it that is taking place in the country that has only experienced tentative reforms since 2011? And how is the current crisis affecting the poorest, who are the beneficiaries of HEKS/EPER projects?

The COVID-19 pandemic clearly reveals the often precarious living conditions of millions of people around the world. From the very start of 2020, Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) therefore adapted many of its projects in Switzerland and abroad to suit the specific needs of this crisis.

HEKS/EPER is marking its 75th anniversary this year. Founded in 1946 to alleviate the untold hardship being experienced post-war Europe, Swiss Church Aid has been in constant evolution since then. Today HEKS/EPER is one of the six major Swiss NGOs specialising in development cooperation, emergency humanitarian aid as well as advocacy on behalf of asylum seekers and socially deprived people in Switzerland.

It was a ground-breaking and pioneering move when HEKS/EPER founded a mechanical training workshop for rural youth in Kerala in 1958. That was its first ever project to be launched in a developing country in the South. In the ensuing years HEKS/EPER teamed up with Indian partner organizations to mount various projects for underprivileged and marginalized population groups such as casteless people (Dalits), women, or India's indigenous people (Adivasis). HEKS/EPER has now withdrawn from India and definitively handed over responsibility for projects to its partner organizations.

Central America suffered extensive damage in November after being struck in rapid succession by two hurricanes, namely «ETA» and «IOTA», which had wind speeds of up to 250 km/h. The countries hit were Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Over a million people are suffering the consequences of the natural disaster. In Honduras it was the northern region that took the worst hit. HEKS/EPER is therefore providing emergency aid worth half a million francs in that region.

Given the dire situation facing the people of Beirut, HEKS/EPER is doubling its emergency aid for victims of the disaster to 600,000 francs in total.