HEKS/EPER is making a difference in the «Social inclusion» in Switzerland
Through its work in Switzerland, Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) fosters social inclusion for disadvantaged people, promotes equal opportunity and supports asylum seekers and other socially deprived people with legal advice.
HEKS/EPER operates five regional offices in German-speaking Switzerland and one in French-speaking Switzerland, which together manage over 50 projects in 13 cantons.
Ever more people are being excluded because of their social background, ethnicity, age, gender or religion. Integrating people with a migration background can be compounded, for example, by the lack of the requisite language proficiency, ignorance of Switzerland's cultural specificities or by disadvantages on the job market. HEKS/EPER works actively to ensure that the affected people have access to education, work, government programmes and services. But integration is incumbent on society as a whole, which calls for openness as well as regulatory structures that ensure the right of social participation for all. This implies that everyone has the same rights and opportunities and that features such as gender, age, social background, nationality or religion do not give rise to discrimination.
HEKS Linguadukt – Intercultural Interpreter Services
Linguadukt serves as a language bridge between foreign-language speaking people and qualified staff from the health, social and education sectors to surmount language and cultural barriers and to elevate participation chances of migrants in general and to also lower costs (e.g. in the health sector).
«HEKS/EPER MosaiQ» advises and accompanies qualified migrants in obtaining recognition of their foreign diplomas so that they can bring their professional potential to the Swiss job market.
AltuM – Age and Migration
The HEKS/EPER AltuM Project supports and assists older migrants 55 years and over. Preventive action is taken to prepare them for potential health problems in old age.
Project in Baselland und Basel-Stadt
HEKS AltuM – Age and Migration in Basel (both sides)
The HEKS/EPER «AltuM» Project assists older migrants 55 years and over. Through preventive action, it prepares them for potential health problems and difficulties in old age.
Project Basel-Stadt and Baselland
Vitalina provides important health information to foreign language speakers who are parents of pre-school children in the Basel region.
«HEKS/EPER InfoSchweiz» supports temporarily admitted persons and recognized refugees through a variety of social integration courses and information programmes.
«MosaiQ Berne» advises and accompanies qualified migrants in obtaining recognition of their foreign diplomas so that they can bring their professional potential to the Swiss job market.
HEKS Visio provides support for the long-term unemployed from the Burgdorf region.
Project Eastern Switzerland
HEKS/EPER AltuM – Age and Migration Eastern Switzerland
«HEKS/EPER AltuM Eastern Switzerland» enhances the health and social inclusion of senior migrants 55 years and over through counselling and leisure activities.
Project Eastern Switzerland
New Gardens Eastern Switzerland
«HEKS/EPER New Gardens» leases allotment gardens at various locations in Eastern Switzerland and works them together with migrants.
Project Eastern Switzerland
HEKS/EPER Visit Eastern Switzerland
«HEKS/EPER Visit Eastern Switzerland» places long term unemployed people in meaningful part-time positions, thereby fostering their social inclusion.
Project Eastern Switzerland
HEKS/EPER Eastern Switzerland Triangle
The HEKS/EPER Eastern Switzerland Triangle project is geared towards unemployed speakers of foreign languages. They are given information, their personal vocational situation is assessed and they receive individual job application training, all of which helps improve their chances of re-entering the job market.
Project Eastern Switzerland
HEKS MosaiQ Eastern Switzerland
«HEKS/EPER MosaiQ» advises and accompanies qualified migrants in obtaining recognition of their foreign diplomas so that they can bring their professional potential to the Swiss job market.
Projects in French-speaking Switzerland
Through Chèques-emploi, HEKS/EPER promotes access to social rights for persons working in private households in the Canton of Vaud by improving their working conditions.
Projects in French-speaking Switzerland
HEKS/EPER manages eight New Gardens in French-speaking Switzerland intended for migrants in precarious situations, as a way of fostering their social integration through gardening.
HEKS rollt - HEKS on wheels
«HEKS rollt» (HEKS on wheels) encompasses two types of bicycle projects in various municipalities of the Canton of Zurich, including Wädenswil and Thalwil.
HEKS/EPER@home is a practical integration project that allows for everyday interaction between migrants and the German-speaking population.
Project Basel-Stadt and Baselland
New gardens in both Basels
HEKS/EPER leases allotment gardens at various locations in the Cantons of Basel-Stadt and Baselland and cultivates them together with refugee families.
Projects in French-speaking Switzerland
InfoSuisse 50+ is a HEKS/EPER integration project for asylum seekers 50 years and over, who have recently arrived in Switzerland. It promotes the learning of practical French.
«HEKS/EPER MosaiQ» advises and accompanies qualified migrants in obtaining recognition of their foreign diplomas so that they can bring their professional potential to the Swiss job market.
