On 26 March 2020, the Julius Baer Group has announced a donation of CHF 5 million for emergency aid programmes to meet the immediate and most urgent needs of people and communities affected by the coronavirus crisis. Contributions have been made to fund programmes of frontline responders, designed to directly benefit the pandemic response in various communities, thereby easing the impact of social isolation, economic hardship, and the strain on healthcare workers.

A part of the Group’s donation has been given to two renowned Swiss charities – the Swiss Red Cross and Pro Senectute.

As stated previously, parts of the remainder of the funds are being donated to organisations abroad, in the communities where Julius Baer operates. Outside of Switzerland, the Julius Baer Group is giving CHF 2 million to relief efforts to 22 selected organisations as listed below, primarily linked to support the most vulnerable members of society, hospitals, and healthcare workers.

Americas:

  • Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Brazil
  • Hospital das Clínicas, Brazil
  • ABC Medical Centre, Mexico

Asia Pacific:

  • ChickenSoup Foundation, Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, Hong Kong
  • Asia Women’s League Limited, Hong Kong
  • Sayang Sayang Fund, Singapore
  • KKH Health Fund, Singapore

Europe, Middle East & Africa:

  • Die Tafel Deutschland, Germany
  • METAdrasi, Greece
  • Latet, Israel
  • Francesca Rava Foundation, Italy
  • Stëmm vun der Strooss, Luxembourg
  • Agrupamento Complementar de Empresas (ACE), Portugal
  • Enjoyable Ageing Charity Foundation, Russia
  • Caritas Spain, Spain
  • The Felix Project, UK
  • St Mungo’s, UK
  • Centrepoint, UK
  • Emirates Red Crescent, UAE
  • The Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), Lebanon
  • Tambo Memorial Hospital, South Africa

The portfolio of the selected COVID-19 emergency aid programmes ranges from building up an emergency hospital in an athletic stadium, to the use of robots for enabling video calls between the elderly and their family members, and general emergency aid for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, homeless and immigrants, to name a few.

The aim of these donations is to complement official responses to the crisis by national and international authorities and help bridge the gap in ensuring the resilience of local communities until longer-term measures have become effective.