Dear Swiss Community,
As 2024 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to share with you some of the developments since my arrival in late August.
The SwissConnect event at the Embassy in September provided a great opportunity to get to know many of you personally. I continue to meet more of you, citizens, NGOs, and entrepreneurs who represent Switzerland and embody the “Swissness”; please bear with me if I have not yet had a chance to cross paths with you.
You may have already heard of the Organization of the Swiss Abroad, which represents the general interests of Swiss citizens abroad. One of its goals is to strengthen relations between Switzerland and its citizens living outside its borders and to provide them with relevant information. I would like to invite you to register for the SwissCommunity Newsletter, which is sent out about ten times a year. It covers topics of direct concern to Swiss living abroad, such as health insurance, electronic voting, and AHV/AVS. It is also a way to connect with the Swiss community and Switzerland (vacation camps for younger people; online community platform, etc.).
In recent months I continued diplomatic work with our accreditation countries. I met with the Presidents of Kenya, Somalia and Rwanda to present my credentials and to discuss our priorities. In November, during the official working visit of State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Martina Hirayama to Kenya, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed that will facilitate and strengthen cooperation between universities and research institutions in both countries. On the Swiss development cooperation front, I would like to highlight the launch in September of the “Empower” program that will support, in partnership with Inkomoko, 10,000 small and medium entrepreneurs among refugees and citizens of host communities in Dadaab and Garissa through training and access to markets.
If you are interested in receiving information about the Embassy’s activities, we encourage you to follow us on social media (X and Facebook).
On behalf of all our colleagues at the Embassy, I wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous year 2025, filled with health, serenity and happiness.
Sincerely
