Terre des Hommes Suisse was founded in 1960 by Edmond Kaiser in Lausanne.
The original purpose
was to host in Switzerland sick children that could not be treated in their home country, Algeria, Tunisia, Vietnam, etc. In 1966, a group was organised in Geneva, then other cantons followed, leading to the implementation of Terre des Hommes Suisse. It was not long before the movement expanded abroad and became La Fédération internationale Terre des Hommes.
In 1972,
following differences of opinion with the founder, the Terre des Hommes movement came to a demerger. In Lausanne, the association turned into a Foundation, meanwhile Terre des Hommes Suisse was organised into two sections, in Geneva and Basel.
Differences remain but,
both organisations act in a complementary way without renouncing their own convictions. They occasionally cooperate to raise the Swiss public opinion awareness about children’s rights violations.
