Swiss Solidarity raises over CHF8 million for children in need

Swiss Solidarity volunteers collect money by phone. Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

The humanitarian charity Swiss Solidarity has raised CHF8 million ($8.75 million) as part of a fundraising effort for children in need, both at home and abroad.

The amount collected had doubled since a special solidarity day was launched on December 17, 2021, the organisation said in a statementExternal link on Monday.

The money will be used to finance projects for the protection and education of children in Switzerland and abroad.

Swiss Solidarity’s new director, Miren Bengoa, said she was “very impressed by the great solidarity and the amount donated which increased constantly”.

The Swiss population “shares our conviction that helping children and young people is an investment in the future”, she said.

The money will be used to finance projects carried out by 24 Swiss partner organisations abroad.

Long tradition

In Switzerland Swiss Solidarity focuses on children suffering from domestic violence: some 50,000 children are victims of domestic violence every year, it said. Swiss Solidarity also helps young people who have difficulty integrating professionally and socially.

Swiss Solidarity has a long tradition of helping children. The first fundraising collection was in 1946 for children suffering from the consequences of the Second World War.

The latest fundraising was the culmination of a week of events to mark the 75^th anniversary of Swiss Solidarity, carried out in cooperation with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company.