Information officer, programme coordinator and managing director: In his 28 years at terre des hommes schweiz Stefan Studer has worn various hats. Among other things, he was instrumental in ensuring that terre des hommes schweiz is primarily aimed at young people. Now a new era is dawning for him, because he has retired.
"My time at terre des hommes switzerland has given me much. We have really been able to achieve a lot", says Stefan Studer, looking back on his 28 years of working for the organisation. Since 2008 he has been Co-Managing Director and Head of Domestic Affairs. Now, eight years later, the next radical change is imminent. Stefan Studer will retire this summer. This marks the end of eventful and eventful years for him during which he held various positions at terre des hommes schweiz - as head of information, editor of the terre des hommes schweiz newspaper (1997 to 2006), programme coordinator for Brazil (1997 to 2005), responsible for developing cooperation with young people in Switzerland and managing director.
Information and educational work
Initially, Stefan Studer (Media and Information) shared the communication office and the work table with his predecessor Ruedi Epple (newspaper). At the beginning of the 1990s, he regularly travelled to Southern Africa in this capacity. This led to the production of documentaries and films which were shown on Swiss television and elsewhere, for example on the situation of Mozambican women after the end of the civil war or on Maputo's street children.
Establishing the link to Switzerland
At the same time, several Swiss aid organisations were addressing the issue of child prostitution in their networks. "We knew that child prostitution existed in Switzerland too, but nobody talked about it. We saw an opportunity to link something that happens in the 3rd world with Switzerland and to bring it closer to the people here". In six years of work, for example, he produced the study Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Switzerland, published in 1999 and widely acclaimed, and the book Verratene Kindheit (Betrayed Childhood), which tells the story of an affected Swiss woman.
Forgotten youth
Parallel to his work in the media sector, Stefan Studer took over the program coordination for Brazil in 1997. "In the projects with street children in Mozambique and Brazil, the young people had attracted attention as a special group. We noticed that we didn't know what actually happens to them when they get older." The investigation revealed shocking facts: 30 percent of them were dead, another 30 percent were living in their old circumstances again, and the remaining 40 percent were on the run or in prison. "terre des hommes schweiz recognized the potential of youth projects and the specific needs of young people," says Stefan Studer.
imagine - a success story
The final turnaround towards concentrating on young people finally came in 2000. terre des hommes switzerland commissioned young people to design the January issue of the organisation's own newspaper on the subject of youth and violence as part of its 40th anniversary. this led to intensive cooperation with young people in smaller projects and finally, in the following years, the youth projects imagine (2002) and imagine international (2005), which still exist today. Offering a platform, discussing the framework conditions together, organising the accompaniment and then having it done. "I learned to trust them, to hand over and share responsibility - that was a decisive learning process and highly exciting for me.
Global context has changed significantly
terre des hommes switzerland and the global context have changed considerably over the past 28 years. "When I started out, the media were still happy to receive information that we aid organisations were able to provide them with because they had little opportunity to learn anything directly," recalls Stefan Studer. "But as time went on, it was no longer enough to do good work in the projects in the South. We have to link them to the issues in Switzerland and thus bring them closer to the people here." Looking back, this stands like a guiding principle over Stefan Studer's period of service and was the basis for the continuous development of the domestic area with its strong, sustainable youth projects.
A good time to go
He had achieved a lot of what he wanted to achieve. A good time for Stefan Studer to stop. Planning and controlling, as the management of an organization requires, is always focused on the future and sometimes a bit far away from the people. "I would like to live more contemporary again. I'm also looking forward to having more time for myself and my music again and to getting involved in new things."
