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.

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.

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.