1944 to 1954: Interchurch reconstruction aid in post-war Europe
HEKS cultivates its national and international profile as the aid organisation of the Swiss Reformed churches.
1944/46
The Assembly of Delegates of the Federation of Churches approves a Swiss aid campaign run by the Reformed churches in support of the Protestant sister churches in the war-torn lands of Europe. Clergyman Heinrich Hellstern is appointed full-time secretary and given the task of organising the aid and reconstruction work on behalf of the Protestant churches.
1945/46
HEKS provides aid for war-torn Europe, distributing 3150 tonnes of food, clothes and books with a total value of 5.5 million Swiss Francs.
1946
The aid organisation of the Protestant churches of Switzerland with its headquarters in Zürich and an office in Geneva – before relocating to its present location in Lausanne – is finally christened the “Hilfswerk der Evangelischen Kirchen Schweiz” which is shortened to HEKS, or EPER in French (Entraide Protestante des Eglises en Ruines).
1948
The Cold War motivates HEKS to continue giving interchurch aid in Eastern Europe. The main beneficiaries are civil parishes where the aid is directed to pastoral and charitable work and to the support of the needy. HEKS also sets up church partnerships and meetings despite the Iron Curtain - initiatives which prove indispensable to the life, and sometimes to the survival, of the churches in the socialist countries in their struggle under ideological pressure.
1949
HEKS takes over the “Evangelische Flüchtlingshilfe”, the Protestant refugee aid organisation, and collects money for the welfare of the refugees in Switzerland.
1954 to 1960: From reconstruction in Europe to international development aid
The colonies in Africa and Asia fight for their political independence. HEKS extends its emergency aid and development work to these continents. A Chinese proverb becomes the guiding principle: «Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.»
1954–56
HEKS gives aid to Algeria, sends donated clothing to Iran and Jordan, and donates books and grants for students in Asia.
1958
Offertory collections from the regional established churches in Zürich, Aargau, Basel and Schaffhausen provide the start-up funds for the first HEKS development project in South India: a training workshop for industrial mechanics.
1960
Africa moves into the focus: HEKS helps to develop the school system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaïre).
1961 to 1969: Major campaigns and fundamental issues
The great wave of exhilaration which accompanied the first development projects gives way to disillusionment when it becomes evident that giving is not enough and that it is also a matter of taking less. This principle is based on the liberation theology espoused by Dom Helder Câmara, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil. He is particularly critical of the attitude of rich countries which increase their wealth at the expense of the poor. The churches and aid organisations in Switzerland rise to this challenge.
1961/62
The Reformed churches in Switzerland start the two-year campaign «Bread for Brothers» (now called «Bread for All») and collect 15.7 million Swiss Francs for development aid projects run by HEKS and the Protestant missions.
1964
Theologian André Bieler calls for more development aid in the church federation, asking for three per cent of the national income. The idea leads to the founding of the «Berne Declaration» in 1968.
1968
Minister Hans Schaffert becomes the new Secretary General of HEKS.
Martin Luther King is assassinated. In Switzerland the Reformed and Catholic churches pioneer a joint aid campaign for the victims of the Biafran War (Joint Church Aid). HEKS signals its support for equality for black people in the USA by backing the «Delta Ministry» project in the US state of Mississippi.
1969
The «Bread for Brothers» campaign is run in conjunction with the Catholic Lenten Fund aid agency «Fastenopfer» and the «Schweizerische Auslandhilfe» (international aid organisation later renamed Swissaid).
1970 to 1979: Emergency aid and development policy
HEKS expands its «Information» section. It runs conferences on fighting oppression and racism.
1970
HEKS takes up the cause of racially oppressed peoples, most notably in Angola, Rhodesia and South Africa. Flood disasters in places like North Africa and Eastern Europe, earthquakes in Turkey and Peru, and the tidal surge in East Pakistan prompt HEKS to set up its own disaster response unit.
1975
End of the Vietnam War. Following years of emergency aid, HEKS embarks on an extensive development and construction programme.
1978
Relations with aid organisations, human rights groups, and with grass-roots movements in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are expanded in a bid to promote grass-roots development work.
1979
Christmas mission for Cambodia: HEKS is behind the first forced landing of an aircraft with relief supplies in Phnom Penh, signalling its concern for widespread humanitarian aid in this devastated and isolated country.
1980 to 1989: The commitment to justice and the fight against racism evolve into challenges for domestic policy
The work of HEKS is the subject of political debates.
1980
«World Refugee Day» is held in Switzerland for the first time. The persistent growth in immigration figures swells the refugee department to the largest in terms of staffing.
1984
Minister and Secretary General Hans Schaffert retires and is succeeded by Alfred Schmid.
1985–87
HEKS opens legal aid centres for asylum seekers in Swiss cities in conjunction with its partner organisations. HEKS backs programmes for refugees and displaced persons in southern Africa, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Tigrai, Lebanon, EI Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the Philippines.
1988
HEKS works with the church federation and the Swiss institute «Glaube in der 2. Welt» to launch «Eastern Europe Day», a joint initiative held in Berne ever since.
1989
The Eastern Bloc fragments, signalling the end of the Cold War. New areas of need open up for HEKS, such as development and reconstruction aid in Eastern Europe. Secretary General Alfred Schmid steps down and is succeeded by business economist Heinz Kohler.
1990 to 1996: Political shift in Eastern Europe
The political shift in Eastern Europe, the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the global democracy and peace movement clear the way for reconstruction programmes in many places. Church aid organisations for welfare and development work spring up in Eastern Europe. Inflamed nationalist passions lead to civil war in the Balkans and Rwanda.
1991
War breaks out in the Balkan States, triggering a new exodus of refugees. HEKS volunteers sixty million Swiss Francs in large-scale reconstruction aid until the Dayton Peace Accord is signed in 1995.
1992
Columbus Quincentenary (1492-1992): HEKS partner Rigoberta Menchú, a Guatemalan Quiché Indian, wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1993
The Balkan War causes many more to flee. HEKS calls for war refugees to be granted their own status in asylum legislation. The church federation expands the remit of HEKS to include the socially disadvantaged in Switzerland.
1994
HEKS coordinates the international monitoring of the elections in South Africa and Mozambique on behalf of the Swiss church. HEKS provides emergency aid for war victims and refugees following the genocide in Rwanda.
1995
HEKS supports the agricultural reform in Latin America and takes up the cause of displaced persons and landless peasants. Second peace mission in southern Mexico. HEKS joins the international campaign against anti-personnel land-mines. This sparks off a number of national projects involving the procurement of housing for the socially deprived and the provision of advice and help for the unemployed.
1996
Secretary General Heinz Kohler dies suddenly on 26 November. Ruedi Renfer (French-Speaking Secretary) heads up the work of HEKS until the appointment of the new Secretary General Heinz Schüle (1998).
HEKS assumes a bridge-building role in the reconstruction of the Balkan States, giving emergency aid on all sides.
1997 to 2007: Realignment of national activities and ever greater emphasis on emergency aid
Aid is directed to victims of the war in Kosovo and to refugees who had fled the war to Switzerland. The work among refugees in Switzerland is discontinued, however, as the federal mandate is withdrawn. The focus of national activities shifts to migrants in general. In a growing number of instances HEKS is required to give emergency aid in the wake of natural disasters and the ravages of war.
1997
A fund for humanitarian work and peace initiatives is set up with the emergency aid donations.
The HEKS archives are transferred to the Federal Archives in Berne in order to make the research documents accessible.
1998
Minister Franz Schüle, then head of the Europe office, becomes the new Secretary General. HEKS gives emergency aid following the devastation caused by hurricane “Mitch” in Central America. Launch of new HEKS magazine «HANDELN.»
1999
War breaks out in Kosovo on 24 March. HEKS contributes to emergency aid and reconstruction projects in Macedonia, Albania, the former Yugoslavia and in Kosovo until 2001. Ten thousand refugees come to Switzerland. Many of them are supported by HEKS.
2000
In addition to relief operations following floods in the Valais and in northern Italy, HEKS also gives aid in situations out of the public gaze: after a period of drought in southern India and in the wake of natural disasters and storms in Vietnam, Cambodia and Mozambique.
2001
The events of September 11 lead to war in Afghanistan. The aid given by HEKS has a special significance for the needy in Afghanistan as it is provided by «Christian brothers» from a Christian country.
HEKS loses the federal mandate for refugee resettlement and ends its national work among refugees after more than 50 years.
2002
«Forging Peace» campaign: four Cambodian blacksmiths travel through Switzerland, setting up their hammer and anvil in public squares to demonstrate how they make new tools out of shrapnel and old flat springs.
2003
HEKS acts swiftly, bypassing the rigid formality of bureaucracy, to provide emergency aid for earthquake victims in the Iranian town of Bam and for the civilian population in the Iraqi war zone.Three teenage hip-hoppers from Colombia perform their rap music and Afro-Colombian dance in schools and communities, making a big impression in the «Children Need Peace» campaign.
2004
HEKS changes from an association to a trust. The Board of Trustees is the highest governing body of the trust. It has six to nine members, one of whom is elected by the Council of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (FSPC) and the remainder by the FSPC Assembly of Delegates. Member of the Board of Trustees serve a four-year term of office.
6000 candles forming the shape of an AIDS ribbon are lit in Parliament Square in Berne, heralding the start of the campaign «Africa Needs Medicines - Now!»
2005
A year of disasters: HEKS gives emergency aid after the tsunami in Asia, natural disasters in Romania, southern Mexico and Guatemala, the earthquake in Kashmir, and in Niger and in the Sudan.
2006
HEKS puts on various events to celebrate its 60th anniversary, starting with the HEKS Eastern Europe Day and followed by lectures in churches and synods, and then a symposium in Berne in September exploring «The Role of the Churches in Reconciliation Processes.»
2007
The new Director, Ueli Locher, takes over from Franz Schüle on 1 July. HEKS launches its «Give a Goat!» campaign, collecting donations to combat hunger and poverty in the countries in the south and the east. The campaign stand travels to nineteen venues between May and October. Members of the public can effectively donate a goat for 30 Swiss Francs.«Humanitarian Aid Coordination» is fully integrated in the international section with effect from 1 January 2007. HEKS completes two major housing reconstruction projects in the areas hit by the tsunami in Sri Lanka and India. Bangladesh is ravaged twice by natural disasters. HEKS gives humanitarian aid, supplying the necessities of life and providing materials to restore dwellings.
Social Bookmarks