Swiss Solidarity hails record tsunami donations

The charity Swiss Solidarity has thanked the nation after it collected SFr227 million ($224 million) for its tsunami projects, which are now coming to an end.

It said the record donations had allowed it to co-finance 166 projects in five countries in cooperation with other organisations since the devastating tidal wave hit Southeast Asia almost five years ago.

The fundraising arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, swissinfo.ch’s parent body, said in a statement that eight per cent of the money had been used for emergency aid, 79 per cent for rebuilding and rehabilitation and 13 per cent to ensure the continuance of projects.

In all, 21,265 houses for around 90,000 people have been repaired or rebuilt, as well as 34 schools and the same number of hospital and healthcare facilities.

More than 70,000 children have received psychological care, almost 40,000 people have received basic skills training and 130,000 people have been given business start-up assistance.

Overall, 3.1 million people have benefited from the aid, said the organisation.

Swiss Solidarity on Tuesday also launched an information campaign to mark the conclusion of its tsunami relief programme.

swissinfo.ch and agencies