- Barbara Schmid-Federer is stepping down as President of the Swiss Red Cross SRC with immediate effect.
- According to a statement from the SRK, the step is taken for health reasons.
- The resignation should also help to “return the public focus to the core concerns of the SRC”.
- The separation from director Markus Mader had previously caused unrest at the SRK.
The message quotes Barbara Schmid-Federer’s letter of resignation: “The past few months have been intense and stressful for me. The attacks on the reputation of the SRK and on my person have pushed me to the limit of my resilience.”
Legend:
Barbara Schmid-Federer at an SRC media conference after the extraordinary Red Cross Assembly in March 2023.
KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex
Under the current circumstances, she can no longer exercise the presidency with the strength that is necessary, Schmid-Federer continued. She also emphasizes that her resignation has no connection with the report of the Audit Committee. The Red Cross Council takes an explicitly different view of the conclusions.
A separation with consequences
In mid-December, the SRK separated from its long-time director Markus Mader with immediate effect. As a result, four members of the Red Cross Council, the governing body of the SRK, resigned.
An external investigative report later identified failures on the part of the Red Cross Council. Schmid-Federer acknowledged errors, but at the same time criticized the investigation. According to the report, the conflict over Mader was based on a structural problem: as in other organizations with a decentralized structure, tensions had repeatedly arisen – especially between some of the cantonal associations and the office.
At the same time, the authors of the report criticized the President of the Red Cross Council, the former Zurich CVP National Councilor Schmid-Federer. In particular, they criticized the fact that the SRC’s executive committee had not received a written application with detailed reasons for Mader’s dismissal.
Successor election still possible in June
New members of the Red Cross Council are to be elected at the Red Cross meeting on June 24th. SRK media spokeswoman Katharina Schindler was unable to say to the Keystone-SDA news agency whether the previous Vice Presidents Hans Jürg Steiner and Matteo Pedrazzini are applying to succeed Schmid-Federer. Steiner and Pedrazzini themselves were initially unavailable.
According to media reports from last weekend, the personnel problems at the Swiss Red Cross have led to a drop in new donations. Major private sponsors are therefore waiting until the SRC has clarified the situation.