WHO WE ARE

COOPI Suisse is a secular and independent non-profit humanitarian association, established on May 3, 2012, in Lugano under the Swiss Civil Code and officially recognized as a public utility organization. It was founded thanks to the initiative and motivation of several individuals residing in Ticino who had previously worked with COOPI in Italy—through communication and fundraising activities as well as in the management of development and emergency projects in Africa and Latin America.

COOPI Suisse carries out development cooperation and humanitarian aid projects in countries of the Global South, aiming to contribute to the harmonious and integrated development of the communities it works with, “with the awareness that through the encounter and collaboration between peoples, ideals of equality and justice can be pursued to achieve a better global balance.” (Statute, Art. 2.1).

In Switzerland, and particularly in the Canton of Ticino, it is active in raising awareness, promoting development education, and fostering a culture of international solidarity and the value of cooperation.

COOPI Suisse is part of the COOPI International Cooperation Foundation network—an international organization that, since 1965, has supported approximately 110 million people through 2,700 projects in 73 different countries, employing 5,000 expatriate workers and 65,000 local operators. Sharing the same mission, COOPI Suisse works in synergy with the Foundation, enhancing its own capacity for action.

COOPI Suisse wants to contribute, through the commitment, motivation, determination and professionalism of its staff, to the process of fighting poverty and to the growth of the communities with which it cooperates in the world, intervening in emergency situations, bringing reconstruction and development, to achieve a better balance between the North and the South of the planet, between “developed” areas and depressed or developing areas.

COOPI Suisse aspires to a world without poverty, able to concretely implement the ideals of equality and justice, sustainable development and social cohesion, thanks to the coming together and cooperation among all populations.