Information officer, program 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, as he has retired.
“My time at terre des hommes schweiz has given me a lot. We have really been able to make a difference,” says Stefan Studer, looking back on his 28 years with the organization. He has been Co-Managing Director and Head of the Domestic Division since 2008. Now, eight years later, the next major change is imminent. Stefan Studer will retire this summer. This will mark the end of eventful and eventful years for him, during which he held various positions at terre des hommes schweiz – as information officer, editor of the terre des hommes schweiz newspaper (1997 to 2006), program coordinator for Brazil (1997 to 2005), responsible for developing cooperation with young people in Switzerland and managing director.
Information and education work
Initially, Stefan Studer (Media and Information) shared the communications office and desk with his predecessor Ruedi Epple (Newspaper). In the early 1990s, he regularly traveled to southern Africa in this capacity. As a result, he produced documentaries and films that were also shown on Swiss television, for example on the situation of the women of Mozambique after the end of the civil war or on the street children of Maputo.
Establishing the link to Switzerland
At the same time, several Swiss aid organizations were addressing the issue of child prostitution in their networks. “We knew that child prostitution also existed in Switzerland, but nobody was talking about it. We saw an opportunity to link something that happens in the third world to Switzerland and bring it closer to people here.” In six years of work, he produced the highly acclaimed study Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Switzerland, published in 1999, and the book Betrayed Childhood, which tells the story of a Swiss woman affected.
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 stood out as a special group. We realized that we didn’t know what actually happens to them when they get older.” The follow-up revealed shocking results: 30 percent of them were dead, another 30 percent were living in their old circumstances again, 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 turning point towards focusing on young people finally came in 2000. As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations, terre des hommes schweiz commissioned young people to design the January edition of the organization’s own newspaper on the topic of youth and violence. This led to intensive collaboration with young people in smaller projects and, in the following years, to the youth projects imagine (2002) and imagine international (2005), which still exist today. Offering a platform, discussing the framework conditions together, organizing the support and then letting them do it. “I learned to trust them, to hand over responsibility and to share – that was a crucial learning process for me and very exciting.”
Global context has changed considerably
terre des hommes schweiz and the global context have changed considerably over the last 28 years. “When I started out, the media were still happy to receive information from us aid organizations because they had little opportunity to find out anything directly,” recalls Stefan Studer. “Over time, however, it was no longer enough to do good work in the projects in the south. We had to link these with the issues in Switzerland and bring them closer to the people here.” Looking back, this was a guiding principle during Stefan Studer’s time in office and formed the basis for the continuous development of the domestic sector with its strong, sustainable youth projects.
A good time to go
He has achieved much of what he wanted to achieve. For Stefan Studer, it was a good time to leave. Planning and controlling, which is what managing an organization requires, is always focused on the future and sometimes a little distant from people. “I want to live more in the present again. I’m also looking forward to having more time for myself and my music again and getting involved in new things.”
