Charity collects huge donations for Swiss Covid victims
Heading to a test centre in Arosa, eastern Switzerland, on January 29
Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller
The humanitarian charity Swiss Solidarity collected more than CHF43 million ($47.7 million) in donations last year for victims of the coronavirus pandemic in Switzerland. This is the largest amount since the CHF50 million collected after a devastating storm in 2005.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/ts
The humanitarian arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company, together with private media collected a total of CHF64.5 million for aid worldwide, Swiss Solidarity said in a statementExternal link on Thursday.
“In 2020, we proved once again that Swiss Solidarity can also help right here at home thanks to the generosity of the people of Switzerland and the support of trustworthy partners and organisations,” said director Roland Thomann.
In Switzerland 1.7 million people received support in the form of financial aid, services and food aid. Swiss Solidarity launched its coronavirus support campaign in March, the largest and longest fundraising campaign for the Swiss population since 2005.
More
More
Swiss Solidarity launches coronavirus support campaign
This content was published on
The humanitarian arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, swissinfo.ch’s parent company, will use the money to give emergency assistance to the elderly, homeless and people with economic or social difficulties. Contributions to the campaign can be made via the website https://www.glueckskette.ch/External link or the postal account 10-15000-6, using the reference “Coronavirus”. Since it was established…
Swiss Solidarity said it supported 409 projects of its partner relief organisations in 41 countries, including Switzerland, to help people affected by humanitarian crises, conflicts, violence and natural disasters.
Two-thirds of the donations went to help people in need in Switzerland. Abroad, one focus of fundraising was Lebanon, following a devastating explosion in a port in Beirut in August. For this, donations were given worth CHF7.5 million.
Funds also went to ongoing projects for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and to projects in Indonesia following the earthquake and tsunami in 2018.
Since 1946 Swiss Solidarity has collected more than CHF1.8 billion in donations.
More
More
Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland
This content was published on
An overview of the latest Covid-related information in the Alpine nation.
Doctors Without Borders demands Swiss Gaza clarification
This content was published on
The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has challenged Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis to explain his controversial Gaza statements.
Data centres use four times more electricity than average
This content was published on
The power consumption of data centres, used in particular for AI, is four times higher than average, warns the International Telecommunication Union.
One in five bee colonies failed to survive Swiss winter
This content was published on
Almost a fifth of bee colonies in Switzerland failed to survive the winter. Losses have been greater than in previous years.
Switzerland condemns deadly attack on UN convoy in Sudan
This content was published on
Switzerland has strongly condemned the deadly attack on a United Nations humanitarian convoy in Sudan. Five people were killed, wrote the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on Platform X.
Most over-65s in Switzerland regularly use the internet
This content was published on
The digital divide is narrowing faster than expected in Switzerland. A study published on Wednesday reveals that nine out of ten over-65s use the internet.
Will Swiss president be forbidden from speaking English to counterparts?
This content was published on
Switzerland's president, Karin Keller-Sutter, should use one of the country's four national languages when communicating with international organisations, and not English, according to a motion that passed on Wednesday.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss donate three million masks for relief workers in Africa
This content was published on
The Swiss foreign ministry’s humanitarian aid unit has donated the face masks to support under-resourced relief work in developing countries.
This content was published on
A special stamp introduced in April to help those affected by Covid-19 has raised some CHF2.5 million, Swiss Post said on Thursday.
Minister’s quote on a T-shirt raises money for coronavirus poor
This content was published on
A T-shirt with a statement by Swiss health minister Alain Berset on the coronavirus crisis has been sold 20,000 times, raising money for charity.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.