Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland was born in January 2020. Our operational headquarters is located in the city of Geneva, the world’s humanitarian capital. Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland is duly registered in the Commercial Register of Geneva, with the identification number: IDE CHE-479.628.525.
Our story is just beginning, but it has an important past of commitment and support to Emergenza Sorrisi Italia, a non-profit, secular, apolitical, and independent non-governmental organization active since 2007.
Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland shares with its founding office in Italy the aim to provide new smiles and hope for a better future to all children affected by severe facial malformations, war traumas, burn sequelae, orthopedic, and ophthalmic pathologies.
Passion and heart, that's what animates my life and my commitment.
My friendship and collaboration with F. M. Abenavoli, Founder and President of Emergenza Sorrisi Italia, dates back to 2005. Starting from 2007, we began to collaborate starting a series of projects on the Iraqi territory.
This collaboration of about two years allowed me to personally notice the seriousness, commitment and dedication not only of Dr. Abenavoli, but of all the collaborators of the then nascent structure Emergenza Sorrisi Italia. I was so convinced that in April 2010 I joined their difficult mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
I moved to Geneva in Summer 2010 and in 2019, with Dr. Abenavoli, we finally began to seriously consider the opportunity of opening an Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland office, that could support and expand the expertise in the field of the now established Emergenza Sorrisi Italia.
We work with volunteer doctors and nurses. They travel several times a year to countries with fewer resources, and often inadequate health care systems, to operate and provide specialized medical care to children with severe facial malformations, cleft lip and palate, burn sequelae, war trauma and other disabling conditions. In addition, our staff trains local doctors and nurses with the goal of creating local centers of excellence in the treatment of cleft lip and palate, and other facial malformations.
In order to achieve our goals, Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland is active in the promotion and development of fundraising initiatives.
In addition, we aim to create a network of volunteer collaborators formed by Swiss medical personnel to participate in our missions, ensuring health, social and educational assistance in the regions of Africa, Western Europe and the Middle East.
In order to create centers of excellence in the countries where we operate and to carry out surgical missions, we rely on the support of philanthropic realities and companies with which we develop partnerships and valuable relationships, based on shared values and sustainable planning.
The participation and collaboration with these realities allows us to carry out an annual mission program and to support the surgery and treatment of "critical cases", children affected by serious diseases. They are in need of interventions of high-level medical teams, and long-term care.
If you would like to receive information about the Major Donors Program, please contact our reference person for foundations and corporations, Ms. Giulia Russo Wälti at the following e-mail address: info@emergenzasorrisi.ch
In a single mission, we operate on an average of 65/80 children. The missions have a duration of about 7-10 days and surgeries are performed by a team of specialized doctors, nurses and logistic coordinators. The team is composed of an average of 7-8 experts: 1 plastic or maxillofacial surgeon, a chief of mission,1 anesthesiologist, 1 surgeon’s assistant, 2 operating room nurses, 1 pediatrician, 1 operating theatre nurse, 1 logistics coordinator.
The cost of a surgery to provide a smile and the dignity of a new life to one of our little patients is 270 Swiss francs. This amount is used cover only living expenses, considering that all our health professionals - doctors and nurses - are volunteers. The latter go on missions for free during their holidays. You can freely choose the amount of your donation, to support even part of a surgery.
You can also support the missions of Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland by making a donation by bank transfer:
IBAN: CH56 0078 8000 0507 9842 5 Made out to: Emergenza Sorrisi Svizzera
The objectives of our association meet the legal conditions of public benefit and it has obtained a tax exemption from the Geneva tax authorities since May 14, 2020. Consequently, donations are deductible from taxpayers' income or profits within the legal limits. For each donation made, we will send you a certificate allowing you to justify it.
The legal basis that legitimizes the processing of such data is the need to make usable features of the web page and ensure adequate usability of the same.
The only personal data collected are those provided voluntarily and directly by the user through explicit forms and processed for the following purposes:
a. in the presence of specific consent, for the periodic sending, via e-mail, of newsletters and informative material concerning our activities;
b. with specific consent, to receive updates on our activities and services;
c. e. in the presence of specific consent, to receive adherence and/or enrollment in training courses, webinars, or internal events;
d. in the case of sending curriculum vitae, exclusively for the purpose of personal selection.
In the cases expressly indicated, the legal basis is the consent freely given by the person concerned.
In the cases expressly indicated, the legal basis is the consent freely given by the person concerned. Refusal to process data will make it impossible for the NGO Emergenza Sorrisi Switzerland to send newsletters and information material or invitations to events and initiatives proposed.
The personal data collected in the form of donation by credit card: Name, Surname, email address, phone number, are necessary to complete the donation made by the person concerned to the Organization. They will be kept within the terms of the law provided for commercial contracts and with regard to the need for accounting accountability of the Organization itself. In the case of a request for a continuous bank donation through Sepa Direct Debit, the tax code provided by the interested party will also be stored as it is required by law.
Data related to credit cards are not memorized by the system but transmitted by secure connection to the bank circuit provided. In the case of a repetitive donation, subsequent transactions will be carried out with an anonymous code provided by the banking circuit on the first transaction.
In the case indicated, the legal basis is the act of liberality freely made by the interested party.
For security reasons, in order to prevent and monitor fraudulent actions by malicious persons, the IP address from which the transaction originates is stored on an external ad hoc system. This is for a time strictly limited to the successful conclusion of the donation transaction, without this being associated at this stage to the person concerned and therefore without any profiling purpose.
In the case indicated, the legal basis is the possible request for information by the competent judicial authority.
Revision of this document : A1-20190109 of January 09, 2019