www.solidarites.org

Special report: celebrating 40 years of actions

Published on Wednesday 16 September 2020

ANNIVERSARY

This year SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is celebrating 40 years of humanitarian commitment around the world. This is the opportunity for us to look back on the many crises and significant periods that have marked our history and can be (re)discovered in a memoir we published on 30 September 2020.

1980-1990

WE GO WHERE OTHERS DON’T

1980
AFGHANISTAN
After the withdrawal of Soviet troops, Caravans of Hope cross the Afghan border on donkeys and horses to provide humanitarian aid to populations in need. This is our first mission and SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL'S historic founding action.
1989
ROMANIA
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, our teams work with disadvantaged children in Romania. In 1990, the writer Bernard Pivot joins them to distribute books in over 500 Romanian high schools. He testifies “It's a real commitment to culture and knowledge”.

1990-2000

A HUMANITARIAN DUTY

1992
BOSNIA
Four months after the siege of Sarajevo began, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is committed in Bosnia to distribute emergency aid (food parcels, clothing and hygiene products) to populations affected by the conflict and then, three years later, it supports them in reconstruction work.
1994
RWANDA
Starting in May 1994, our teams send two trucks and 30 tonnes of food aid to Rwanda. The teams are also getting involved in warning of the emergency and raising the funds necessary to continue their activities.
2000
DRC
Incessant conflicts, persistent poverty, malnutrition and even epidemics... Since 2000, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has been working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular in the town of Kalemie, where our teams are helping to reconstruct a drinking water network.

2000-2010

A LEADING HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE PLAYER

2004
SRI LANKA/INDONESIA
In the weeks following the tsunami, our teams go to Sri Lanka and Indonesia with several tonnes of equipment to supply the victims with drinking water and to distribute food and basic necessities to them.
2004
DARFUR (SUDAN)
In February 2004, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL decides to intervene in Darfur, where interethnic conflicts exacerbate an already acute food crisis.
2010
HAITI
Since the 2010 earthquake, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has been working with Haitians to provide them with assistance in the areas of access to water and food security. Our teams also actively providing help in the fight against cholera.

Since 2010

ONCE YOU’RE ON THE GROUND NEVER RETREAT

2014
SIERRA LEONE
In 2014, our teams go to Sierra Leone to respond to the Ebola crisis. At the same time a cell specially dedicated to emergencies is established at the association's headquarters.
2017
MYANMAR/BANGLADESH
Since 2017, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has been working with the Rohingya exiled in Bangladesh or displaced in Myanmar, who live in extremely insecure conditions and depend solely on any humanitarian aid they can get.
2017
YEMEN
In recent years, our teams have been working in Yemen, where conflicts are raging, to provide emergency aid to the most vulnerable people, particularly in the access to water.
2019
SAHEL/LAKE CHAD
In 2019, the populations of the Sahel and Lake Chad regions, shaken by conflict and suffering from food insecurity, became one of SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL'S priorities.

Photo credits : Daisy Fargier, Thomas Janny, Tiecoura N’Daou, Naymuzzaman Prince, Vianney Prouvost, Pascal Pugin, Vincent Tremeau, Hugo Van Offel, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL, William Daniels/Panos Pictures

Translated by George May.