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Emergency aid and reconstruction

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Emergency relief means saving lives, alleviating suffering, and ensuring survival. Damage is repaired as rapidly as possible, and additional emergency measures are taken to help the victims survive. The next step is to re-establish basic supplies and services and to support the afflicted population in the task of reconstruction.

Delivery of aid is namely targeted to populations stricken by natural disasters or affected by armed conflict. In this connection, preventive measures and advocacy are also vested with a key role.

Emergency relief (immediate and survival assistance)
The primary objective of emergency relief is to save lives and to cover the basic needs of the victims. This objective comprises a broad spectrum of tasks: basic provision of drinking water and foodstuffs; temporary shelter; emergency medical assistance; and the support and protection of refugees and displaced persons. To locate and rescue earthquake victims buried in the rubble, the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) can also solicit the intervention of Swiss Rescue as an instrument of immediate assistance.

Food aid – risk reduction and crisis prevention

Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA)
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Reconstruction and rehabilitation
Reconstruction represents the first steps in building a safer future. The reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes of Switzerland’s humanitarian aid provide for measures that go beyond emergency relief and disaster assistance. They aim at ensuring that restoration efforts foster conditions for living a life in human dignity, thereby enabling the victims to return to a state of normalcy as rapidly as possible.
Prävention und Vorsorge

Disaster prevention and risk-reductionn 
Natural disasters have a negative long-term impact on all livelihoods. Poverty and vulnerability to natural hazards are closely linked to one another. The SDC seeks to reduce the consequences of natural disasters by fostering sustainable use of natural resources, contributing to a safe and intact environment, and strengthening the mechanisms for coping with the impact.
Schulkantine_zwei_mittel.jpg Advocacy
Advocacy comprises a commitment to the fate of the victims and the assuming of responsibility on their behalf. The rights of those who have fallen victim to natural disasters and crises are to be respected, and the local, national and international communities are to assume responsibility for the victims. Through its presence on site and its testimony, the SDC can contribute to the protection of the victims. In international bodies, the SDC advocates on behalf of the victims.

Additional Information and Documents