Terre des Hommes turns 40
The Swiss Humanitarian organisation, Terre des Hommes, is celebrating 40 years since its inception. The group said it specifically did not want any large festivities to mark the anniversary.
The organisation was set up in Lausanne in 1960 with the aim of improving living conditions for needy children in developing countries. That year, the founder, Edmond Kaiser, brought children from war-torn Algeria to safety in Switzerland.
In subsequent years, Terre des Hommes launched campaigns to help children throughout the world in conflict zones, including Biafra, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
The group rapidly became world renowned for its human rights activities, and Kaiser himself received numerous awards in recognition of his work. In 1998, it launched the “Lausanne Appeal”, aimed at drawing up a universally recognized legal definition of the concept of “Humanity”.
As part of that appeal, Terre des Hommes demanded that organised crime against children be considered with at least the same degree of gravity and the same urgency and priority as international economic crime.
Kaiser headed Terre des Hommes until 1979. He died in India in March of this year.
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