Help in Switzerland We supported over 1,000 refugee children in asylum centres with learning and play sets.
Our new annual report shows where we worked for children last year and which projects we were able to implement. We were faced with many challenges - first and foremost the Covid 19 pandemic and its impact on children.
Last year, we, the aid workers, found ourselves suddenly in the role of those affected in the midst of a global crisis. Covid-19 also had a significant impact on how we work at Save the Children, how we implement our projects for children and thus save lives. But we mastered this task with a lot of commitment, focus and innovative approaches.
Both in Switzerland and in our project countries, we succeeded in helping children during the biggest humanitarian crisis of the 21st century so far. By immediately adapting our projects and working methods to the rapidly changing conditions and by innovative approaches, we largely mastered the challenges that arose. In Switzerland, for example, we supported over a thousand refugee children in asylum centres with learning and play sets and, in the event of quarantine, provided them with specially developed quarantine boxes with instructions for activities and ideas for games. In this way, at least a minimal degree of normality could be created for these often traumatised children. In our projects abroad, we provided much-needed education, supported fragile health systems by running clinics or distributed food to families whose livelihoods had disappeared from one day to the next.
Immediate reaction We adapted our projects quickly and according to the circumstances - and were able to continue helping children!
Aid in 39 countries In 39 countries, we have helped children and made a difference in their lives.
We are convinced that every child deserves an environment in which they can grow up and develop healthily and in safety. Our projects made an important contribution to this last year, whether in the crisis regions of Syria or Yemen, on refugee routes in north-east Africa or in the slums of Kenya. This includes a clever project that not only improves children’s lives but also reduces the spread of Covid-19 at the same time: The Jengu Handwashing Station, which we developed with one of our partner organisations.
In the slums of Kenya, where sometimes more than 100 people share one toilet, this approach not only sets new standards in hygiene (diarrhoeal diseases are one of the main causes of death among children under five) but also prevents smear infections with the Covid-19 virus through hand hygiene – simple, but very effective.