ASED facilitates access to education and training, paying particular attention to gender inequalities, conditions of marginalization and exclusion, and situations of physical or mental disability.
With a deep respect for cultures, ASED works with local partners in West Africa, Madagascar and India to strengthen the socio-educational spaces in which the younger generation evolves.
The aim is to promote equal opportunities to help everyone find an active place in society. A society that is more inclusive, more open, better able to manage its present and build its future.
- ASED is a Swiss development cooperation organization that has been working with children and young people in precarious situations since 1988. It is part of the Fédération Genevoise de Coopération.
- ASED is recognized as a charitable organization by the tax authorities of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. As a result, donations made to ASED are tax-exempt.
- ASED is certified by the quality label Zewo. The proper management of funds and control of administrative costs are regularly monitored.
The Ased story
In 1988, Maryam and Jean-Luc Nicollier, on vacation in Turkey with their children, meet two young boys from the slums of Izmir. They are 5 and 9 years old, and spend their days shining shoes to survive. The couple go to meet their parents and discover a Kurdish family in an overwhelming situation. Touched by the living conditions of these children, who are the same age as their own, they decide to finance their education and are determined to extend their support to the whole neighborhood.
That was the spark. Back in Geneva, Maryam and Jean-Luc took up the cause of street children. They mobilized their friends and family and founded ASED on December 12, 1988. The two boys have grown up and now own their own stall in Izmir’s Bazaar. They have started a family and are actively involved in the development of their community. Since its foundation, more than 70,000 children and young people in precarious situations have benefited from the programs supported by ASED.
Astrophysicist, ESA astronaut and Honorary Professor at EPFL, Claude Nicollier was the first Swiss astronaut. On the last of his four space missions, he performed a spacewalk from the shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble telescope at an altitude of 600 km.
Another mission is close to his heart: defending the right to education for children affected by poverty. Highly committed, he has been the patron of ASED since its creation.
The Committee
The ASED Committee is made up of a team of committed professionals who put their expertise and energy at the service of the association.
Each member is a reference in his or her field of activity and provides support to ASED staff.
The Organization
The modest size of the Geneva head office and its strong territorial roots are a real asset, enabling ASED to be close to its partners, donors, members and the general public. This human dimension, complemented by its inclusive vision, naturally places ASED at the heart of the actions it supports, and gives it a privileged position in project monitoring, guaranteeing the organization’s ethics and effectiveness.
All ASED’s efforts are focused on the field and the projects carried out there. This is why the association is keen to maintain a balance between the number of staff at head office and in the field.
Director
Ivana Goretta
Ivana grew up in Geneva and studied social sciences at the University of Geneva. She began a career rich in marketing in the private sector and the media. Touched by the suffering of children in world conflicts, she devoted seven years to promoting child protection activities for the Terre des hommes Foundation. She joined the foundation as a spokesperson, before taking over as head of communications and fundraising. Ivana is well acquainted with the challenges facing Swiss and international NGOs. She pays particular attention to the quality of projects and the expectations of private and institutional donors.
program manager
Gilbert Rugira
Gilbert grew up in Geneva. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Before joining ASED, he worked in program coordination and quality assurance for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the Great Lakes region, then in West Africa for Caritas Switzerland. Gilbert has a solid understanding of the issues involved in development cooperation, as well as a very good knowledge of the field. He attaches particular importance to the relevance and impact of operations for populations, partners and donors.
Communications and Philanthropy Manager
Carole Ballanfat
With some thirty years’ professional experience shared between the associative and corporate worlds, Carole has led her career in a wide variety of fields, enabling her to acquire a great sense of adaptation and develop a holistic approach. She joined ASED in 2022 and is committed to promoting the convergence of interests between the private sector, the general public and civil society in order to join forces to develop and perpetuate ASED projects.
Coordinator India
Sudha Parthasarathy
Originally from a South Indian family, Sudha was born and raised in Delhi. She holds a Master’s degree in Child Development and has been working in this sector for almost 35 years. She ensures coordination between ASED, which she represents in the field, and the partners she identifies. Sudha works on the development and monitoring of programs that provide access to education for children and young people in precarious situations in her country, with the aim of creating a more inclusive society. Her position reinforces ASED’s strategic choice to work not “for” but “with” the populations concerned.
The Ambassadors
True spokespeople for the cause, the ambassadors work hard to raise awareness of ASED’s work, in order to increase support for the association’s projects.
ASED donors
To paraphrase Aristotle, united we are more than the sum of our efforts. It is this synergy that enables ASED to develop its projects to promote access to quality education and training.
Whether they represent an individual commitment, the support of a private company or public funding, donations are the foundation of all ASED’s actions. By taking part in this convergence of acts of solidarity, we are concretely contributing to a fairer, calmer and more creative society, one that will last.
The greatest thanks for your support to children and young people in precarious situations are their successes, their independence gained, their lives in the making, the impact on society.