Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation is a non-profit development organisation based in Switzerland. It is regarded as the largest Swiss NGO and main implementer of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The association itself has more than 30’000 members. Currently the organisation is active in 32 countries with different projects.

Since Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation has also ongoing projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we invited Matthias Herr, the Co-Team Leader of the region Eastern Europe, to meet us and hear about their activities in BiH. He told us, that the focus in Bosnia and Herzegovina lies on the economical sector and the governance structures. For example, one of the current projects is called MarketMakers with the aim to reduce the unemployment of young people by creating new job opportunities.

After presenting the idea of i-platform to Herr, he told us, that Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation also recognised the potential of the diaspora. According to him, people from abroad could not just invest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also import new ideas and try to realise them there. He does see a need of assistance and backing during the process of realising the idea or project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation could offer assistance and help. Concerning a possible collaboration with i-platform, Herr mentioned that Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation could benefit from the i-platform in order to foster and strengthen the contacts to the BiH diaspora in Switzerland.