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The Ukraine crisis is so dominant that other events take a back seat. The relief organizations feel that.
Solidarity with the refugees from Ukraine is unbroken in Switzerland. This is also reflected in the willingness of the population to donate. Swiss Solidarity alone has received almost 111 million francs so far, only for the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean more money was raised.
other side of the medal
The Ukraine crisis dominates in terms of donations. So much so that other events such as the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the war in Yemen or the drought catastrophe in East Africa fade into the background. This also means that hardly any money is donated to it. The relief organizations are also feeling the effects.
For example Swissaid. Media spokeswoman Thaïs In der Smitten says: “In the first few weeks after the war broke out, we noticed that the Ukraine war overshadowed everything else. That’s why we deliberately postponed our own appeals for donations.”
The Swiss relief organization is primarily active in the poorest developing countries in Africa and Latin America. Regions that are currently hardly in the headlines. At Swissaid, a slight drop in donations is also being registered.
Few donations for specific projects
At HEKS, on the other hand, there are both tendencies. Because the aid organization is currently also focusing on helping Ukraine, donations are pouring in here. For other projects, for example for the Middle East or East Africa, little comes in for this, says HEKS Director Peter Merz.
And in contrast to other years, the Easter campaign of the evangelical aid organization is not going so well either: “We are trying to deal with the issue of climate justice. Here, too, we need donations for our projects that are affected by climate change.”
Despite the drop in donations, all projects could be continued, according to both HEKS and Swissaid. Both are also convinced that in the medium term the focus will be on other regions of the world again. For example in East Africa, where there is extreme drought and because of the war in Ukraine, food prices have risen so much that famine is imminent.
Swiss Solidarity spokeswoman Judith Schuler says: “It is difficult for us as Swiss Solidarity to focus on two topics at the same time, Ukraine and East Africa. However, we hope that we can draw more attention to the issue of East Africa in the coming months.”
You can of course already donate for this, directly to Swissaid or Swiss Solidarity. This one last week Extra donation account for East Africa opened.