2023: 60 years for justice

For many decades, fepa has celebrated its anniversaries on the basis of the 1963 statutes, which introduced independent general assemblies.

The impulse to found fepa came in 1959 when Hedwig Schneeberger, a teacher from Berne, heard about the establishment of community farms in what was then Rhodesia: Working together as equals, black and white pioneers created a future-oriented project for the development of the country in southern Africa.

Hedwig Schneeberger was fully committed to financially supporting these anti-racist projects, which challenged the Rhodesian government and the ideology of white supremacy with a genuine partnership approach. Schneeberger found support from like-minded people so that fepa could be founded in 1963, incidentally with the active support of the “refugee mother” Gertrud Kurtz of the Christian Peace Service as well as the Bernese Teachers’ Association.

In the early 1960s, when the majority of African states gained independence from the former colonial powers, too many Swiss still sympathised with the white settler societies that were resisting a change in their political domination. In this environment, fepa’s stance was progressive and courageous. Elements that still characterise fepa today were already present then:

1. The fundamental view of human rights and democracy, against racism and racial discrimination as a prerequisite for development.
2. Development policy commitment both in Africa and Switzerland.
3. The principle of equal partnership and mutual respect.
4. The support for initiatives of committed people on the ground.
5. The geographical focus on Southern Africa and in particular on Rhodesia and Zimbabwe.
6. The key role of women in fepa’s work.

Zimbabwe has remained the focal country of our projects 60 years after fepa was founded. fepa has closely accompanied its partners through the turbulence of recent years. Furthermore, fepa worked in Tanzania and is still active in South Africa and Moçambique.

Via our partner organisations in what was then Rhodesia, first contacts were made in the 1960s with the emerging farmer cooperative movement in Tanzania, which soon caused a developmental furore under the name “Ujamaa”. In Tanzania’s Ruvuma District, fepa supported this grassroots initiative, which was bureaucratised as a state doctrine at the end of the 1960s. For many years fepa then worked with the state-initiated Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF).

fepa’s involvement in South Africa began in 1966 with the support of projects by “Treeman” Mazibuko, a pioneer of organic farming. Other fepa partners in South Africa were Rommel Roberts’ Hilltop Empowerment Centre in the Eastern Cape and the Mdantsane Peace Project.

For some years fepa was also active in Moçambique. In 2004, former members of the association Solidarity with Moçambique approached fepa with a proposal for cooperation in the field of malaria prevention in the province of Cabo Delgado on the border with Tanzania.

Further Information

Brochure on our 50 year jubilee.

fepa office

We are a small, dynamic, and motivated team that is passionately committed to the goals of FEPA.

The FEPA office is managed by Marcel Dreier (60%) and Denise Staubli (50%). Iria Mudimu, Katja Majirija, and Stephanie Roffler contribute their expertise on an hourly basis as freelancers and volunteers.

On-site in Zimbabwe, Tatenda Mutema supports the team as needed.

Marcel Dreier – Co-Executive Director

Denise Staubli – Co-Executive Director

Iria Mudimu – Content Creator

Katja Majirija – Desk Officer Agroecology

Stephanie Roffler – Desk Officer Partnership South Africa

Tatenda Mutema – Consultant based in Zimbabwe

Volunteers at the office

Dingulwazi Kenneth Mudimu, Joyce Schäfer and many more that we can count on for short-term assignments. If you also want to participate: More information here. We look forward to seeing you!

ZEWO-Certification

Certification 2022 – 2026

fepa was successfully re-certified on 21 November 2022 for the next years (until the end of 2026). We have started with the implementation of small requirements and recommendations, e.g. a register of the board members’ commitment of interests, privacy policy and the calculation of the project effort at the newsletter. The certificate document is uploaded here.

What ZEWO does:

Strengthening trust

Zewo ensures clarity and honesty of fundraising organisations and promotes society’s trust in charitable activities.

Audit aid organisations

Zewo is committed to ensuring that donations are used for their intended purpose, effectively and economically. Aid organisations that allow themselves to be audited by Zewo and meet the strict requirements receive the Zewo seal of approval.

Informing the public

The information service (Tel: +41 44 366 99 55) receives enquiries, tips and complaints about organisations that collect donations. Donors receive independent and competent information on questions about donations.

PYCD – Platform for Youth Development

Gender activism

Young women and men are active against sexual exploitation, child marriage and for more equality. The Gender Office creates space for dialogue among women who critically question harmful practices in a culturally sensitive way. The Gender Office is part of our community of practitioners who use innovative methods to advocate for women’s rights and gender justice.

«FEPA’s support has helped a lot in changing womens’ lives in Chipinge through the awareness campaigns that empower women to stand their ground and challenge the harmful cultural practises that continue to hinder women’s development. Through the support, quite a number of women can now stand up and report cases of rape and sextortion freely.» – PYCD

Check out our news page for the latest on this partnership.

Advancing girls’ and women’s rights

The aim of this project is to create a more gender-equitable society in the Checheche and Chisumbanje region of Chipinge District, Zimbabwe. Young women should be able to play a central role in development efforts. To this end, the project gives them a voice, strengthens their position in the local community and supports them in removing obstacles that prevent them from taking on this role. Therefore, the project supports young women from the community who address gender-based injustices themselves and in a culturally sensitive way.

Directly, the project strengthens the right of girls and young women to dispose of their own bodies through concrete measures, because this is a basis for the empowerment process. Thanks to targeted networking and knowledge transfer in this rural region, the project makes available competencies from other organisations that were not previously active in the project region and anchors them in the local organisation with its gender activists.

The fepa project partner ‘Platform for Youth and Community Development’ (PYCD) is a committed and locally strongly rooted youth organisation. With its many members and 25 selected gender activists, PYCD is working to change attitudes and practices among members of rural communities in Chipinge, Zimbabwe. These communities are characterised by culturally based disadvantages of girls and (young) women as well as socio-economic dynamics that negatively affect the social rights of girls and young women.

fepa partner organisation	Platform for Youth Development
Location	Chipinge, Zimbabwe
Target group	Girls and young women
fepa contribution 2017-2020	CHF 140’000
fepa contribution 2021	CHF 31’000
fepa contribution 2022 (budget)	CHF 35’000

Donate Time – Voluntary Engagement

There are many ways you can get involved with fepa:

Help at the office,

at our stand campaigns,

in one of our projects.

We are a small, dynamic development organisation and look forward to hearing from you.

Contact: info@fepafrika.ch

Share Joy – Donations for special occasions

You are celebrating a milestone birthday, an anniversary or some other joyful occasion.

Celebrations are a great opportunity to share joy and give gifts to people.

Ask your friends and relatives to support a fepa project instead of presents.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Contact: info@fepafrika.ch

In honour of the Deceased – Donating in Bereavement

When we mourn a deceased person, we would like to do something good in their memory.

Instead or in addition to wreaths and flower arrangements, you can mention the possibility of making a donation to fepa in the obituary or at the funeral service.

We will be happy to send you a list with the names of the donors so that you can thank them personally for their condolences.

Bank account details:

fepa-Fonds für Entwicklung und Partnerschaft in Afrika
4005 Basel
Ch97 0900 0000 3000 2405 6

Impacting beyond one’s own life – Legate/Will

fepa regularly receives bequests and legacies from people who wish to support its work for the benefit of people in Southern Africa beyond their death.

If you are thinking of making a bequest or leaving an inheritance to fepa yourself, it is imperative that you draw up a will.

Questions relating to inheritance are legally complex and associated with emotions.

Contact us and we will be happy to advise you or refer you to specialists.

Our former Co-President Ueli Haller will be happy to help you.

Your Contact on the topic of Legate/Will

Ueli Haller
Pastor
Former Co-President and board member
1974 in Rhodesia for 4 months, then expelled from the country until 1980
Board member since 1974, since then countless visits to Zimbabwe

uelihaller@gmx.ch

Africa Link Award

FEPA AWARDED

On 8 September, fepa received the “Friend of Africa Solidarity Award”. The award is given by Africa Link. The award recognises organisations and individuals who contribute to positive change on the continent. We are proud and happy about this recognition. fepa Co-President Ueli Haller accepted the award and presented our projects PORET and KSTC.

Africa Link is a diaspora organisation of Africans living in Switzerland. It regularly publishes articles in the form of an online magazine on topics that concern both Africa and Switzerland.

Introduction

16 Zimbabwean grassroots organisations (Community Based Organisations) form a Community of Practitioners (CoP) that uses an empowerment approach in communities to advocate for women’s rights and gender justice.

The experiences in 2021 and 2022 are rich and promise that the path taken will make a substantial contribution to strengthening women’s rights and achieving SDG 5, while also achieving sustainable promotion and empowerment of young women as transformation agents and development agents.

Current reports on some of the contributors can already be found on the main page.

fepa’s approach to action

In our internal concept we describe our commitment to women’s rights and gender justice. The fepa community of practice approach is a flywheel for committed people. We consciously focus on diversity, agility and a multi-perspective approach. We are all part of an activist movement that empowers community members to achieve SDG 5. The distinct empowerment approach aims to achieve sustainable, democratic and equitable structures in communities. Individual rights (e.g. protection from early marriage) play a role in this, but we also do this in the belief that we are shaping an enabling environment for all genders through participation and citizen initiative. By working together to strengthen the capacity of grassroots activists, to seek dialogue, and to identify and implement solutions, we are building the foundation for a society that respects and advocates for the rights of all genders.

A flexible and participatory approach is a prerequisite and strength of community-based development. Navigating within societies is complex and it can never be fully anticipated. The CoP approach allows individual partners to develop autonomous objectives and context-specific solutions from the bottom up and implement them directly for the benefit of the target group. At the same time, they contribute to the improvement of the work of other activists. This is the advantage over a programme approach with guard rails set by fepa. The partners complement each other systemically and, thanks to the exchange and joint learning, increase the impact of committed people as agents of change.

The chosen approach is part of our initiative to ‘decolonise help‘ and to introduce agile methods in project management in order to not only achieve better results more effectively and faster, but also to act (even) more in partnership.

Excerpts from the fepa report on the CoP (highlights/lowlights/lessons learned) can be found here (only available in German).

Documentation on women and development

On the occasion of an exchange visit in 2020, we worked up some background information. There are still gaps. Will you help us to fill them?

Your contribution

Would you like to volunteer as part of our team that supports activists in the South? We have room for movement and give space for your commitment and talents. Contact us by email: info@fepafrika.ch