History
Founded by Edmond Kaiser, Terre des hommes “a movement to provide immediate and direct aid to children in need” was born on 22 July 1960. To celebrate 50 years of existence is to admit that vulnerable children are, sadly, still a reality of our world. However, it also confirms the importance of our fieldwork.
Review of 50 years of child relief
On 14th November 1959, in the middle of the Algerian War, the weekly publication ‘Réforme’ reports on refugee camps in France. Edmond Kaiser is immensely disturbed by this revelation of the crushing misery of over one and a half million Algerians including countless children. In 1960, Kaiser founds the Terre des hommes movement to provide immediate and direct aid to children in need. Edmond Kaiser promptly brings hundreds of children suffering from the effects of the Algerian conflict to a holiday camp in Switzerland. Other campaigns follow to help child victims of war and disease in Biafra, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Palestine, Lebanon and Cambodia. More on Tdh emergency aid.
| 1960 | The Terre des hommes Charter is drawn up, defining the mission and ethical principles of the association. Throughout the 1960s, more Terre des hommes organizations are set up in France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, each along the lines of the Swiss model and working within the framework of the Charter. |
| 1966 | They are eventually combined to form the Terre des hommes International Federation (TDHIF). |
| 1970 | The Massongex House opens in Canton Valais, where children brought to Switzerland for surgery can convalesce before returning home. |
| 1972 |
sees the separation into the Terre des hommes Foundation and Terre des hommes Switzerland.
Differing views between working group representatives and Edmond Kaiser about the structure and future direction of the work from development to cooperation led to a separation in April 1972 at the AGM of the Swiss Terre des Hommes. Kaiser continued to operate under the name, Terre des Hommes, in Lausanne, formally creating a new association. In 1988, the association became a foundation with headquarters in Lausanne, expanding its activities throughout Switzerland. The working groups in Geneva and Basel continued their action within the umbrella organization Terre des Hommes Switzerland / Terre des Hommes Schweiz, with headquarters in Basel for Switzerland and in Geneva for French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. |
| 1980 | Terre des hommes Lausanne adapts its statutes and changes from an association to a foundation. The new statutes are deposited with the relevant supervisory authority, the Federal Department of Interior. |
| 1988 | Edmond Kaiser leaves Terre des hommes to found Sentinelles |
| 1997 | Terre des hommes draws up the Lausanne Appeal. This is drafted as a result of the creation of the International Criminal Court and demands that organised crime against children be identified as a crime against humanity and prosecuted and punished in the appropriate manner. |
| 1999 | The Terre des hommes Foundation becomes a member of the International Terre des hommes Federation. |
| 2002 | Terre des hommes receives the Human Rights Award from France for its strong commitment to combating child trafficking in Eastern Europe. |
| 2003 | A petition with 128,000 signatures is deposited with the Federal authorities, demanding that organised crime against juveniles be described as a crime against humanity and correspondingly anchored in the Swiss penal code. |
