Media release, April, 26 2022

The merger with Bread for All has been a success

HEKS/EPER has successfully completed the first year since the merger with Bread for All, both organizationally and financially. The annual financial statements as of end-2022 recorded income of 114 million francs (up 15,4 per cent) and a good operating result of 5,8 million francs. The appreciable support from institutional donors, the general public and churches for Ukraine and for the people who have fled that country for Switzerland accounts for most of the record result.

Following the legal merger of HEKS/EPER and Bread All in November 2021, the newly formed "Swiss Church Aid" (HEKS/EPER) launched operations in January 2022. The merger has been a success, especially with the valuable synergies arising from the interlinking of development policy and programme work at home and abroad. 

With the new Strategy, HEKS/EPER focuses on the four priority areas of "climate justice", "right to land and food", "flight and migration", and "inclusion". The overarching goal is systemic change at the social, political and economic levels – in Switzerland and worldwide. Both humanitarian aid and the ecumenical campaign are still vital cornerstones of ongoing collaboration between HEKS/EPER and “Fastenaktion”.

Mann mit dem Rücken zum Bild vor zerstörten Gebäuden
HEKS/Hajdú D. András

Very good annual result

The 2022 annual financial statements show that the merger has been a success also in financial terms. It closed with operating income of 114 million francs, which was 15,4 per cent higher than the prior year, and expenditure of 108.1 million francs. This yielded an operating result of 5,8 million francs, most of which was allocated to existing funds in Switzerland and abroad.

In 2022, HEKS/EPER dedicated altogether 93,2 million francs to 303 projects abroad and in Switzerland. Some 17,8 million francs went towards development cooperation projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Another 2,3 million francs benefited church cooperation in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Worldwide, HEKS/EPER also provided 29,3 million francs – almost twice as much as in the previous year – in humanitarian aid in conflict zones and following disasters stemming from natural hazards. This substantial increase is attributable primarily to the war in Ukraine and its disastrous consequences.

In Switzerland, HEKS/EPER spent 31,9 million francs as follows: 18,7 million francs on projects to promote inclusion for socially underprivileged people and 11,8 million francs on providing legal advice services for asylum seekers, people recognized as forcibly displaced, and other target groups. At 14,9 million francs, administrative costs represented the same share of overall spending as in the prior year, despite markedly higher outlays.

 

Further information 

Lorenz Kummer
Editor and media spokesman
Lorenz Kummer

Phone: +41 31 380 65 71
Mobile: +41 76 461 88 70
E-mail: lorenz.kummer@heks.ch

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