About us
Our history
Founded in 1932, ISS Switzerland joined the global International Social Service network, itself established in 1924.
- 1924The network is born in Geneva, initiated by two social workers
- 1932ISS Switzerland is founded
- TodayOver 100 years of social work in 120 countries
International Social Service
A practical response for people on the move
International Social Service was founded in 1924 by two social workers, Mary E. Hurlbutt and Ruth Larned, in response to the great migrations Europe had experienced since the late 19th century. After the First World War, extremely difficult conditions drove tens of thousands of displaced people to settle in the United States.
It was in this context that ISS was born and its first branches opened in key countries to inform and assist migrants. Their cooperation grew stronger over the years, becoming particularly solid after the Second World War.
Faced with the growing needs of migrants and people in distress, a Swiss committee, “Aid to Emigrants”, was set up: in 1932, ISS Switzerland was born.
1914 – 2024
Eleven milestones, a hundred years of commitment
- The origins
- Protecting and welcoming
- A global network
1914 – 1932 · The origins
ISS Switzerland’s roots go back to the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), which took an interest in the fate of emigrant women and children at a time when many Europeans were leaving to seek a future overseas.
Between the two wars, a central body was set up in Geneva: the International Migration Service, today the ISS General Secretariat.
After the 1929 crash, cases involving Switzerland multiplied and a Swiss secretariat opened within the central body. Many families, hit by unemployment, were returning home.
Creation of the committee “Aid to Emigrants – Swiss Section of the International Migration Service”. During and after the war, it helped many refugee children find their families or a placement.
1953 – 1996 · Protecting and welcoming
Start of a collaboration of more than 40 years with UNHCR to support refugees in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. ISS Switzerland opened a branch in Zurich and relied on correspondents in Bellinzona and St. Gallen.
Implementation of the Hague Conventions ratified by Switzerland (child abduction 1980, adoption 1993, child protection 1996) and promotion of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
The Fondation Officielle de la Jeunesse (FOJ) mandated ISS Switzerland to support every unaccompanied minor seeking asylum in Geneva.
2000 – 2024 · A global network
With local partners in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and West Africa, ISS Switzerland strengthened the protection of children deprived of their family.
With asylum applications rising, stepped-up work with unaccompanied minors and development of expertise for adult migrants leaving Switzerland.
The pandemic brought new challenges. On the front line, ISS Switzerland reaffirmed its commitment to children, families and migrants.
The ISS network celebrates its centenary
A hundred years after its founding in Geneva, the network celebrates a century of social work across borders. To mark the occasion, ISS Switzerland created the exhibition “Across Time and Borders”, which restores the human dimension to the journeys of women, children and families on migration routes.
Portrait · 1888 – 1980
Mary E. Hurlbutt, a pioneer of social work
- 1888Born in Greenwich, Connecticut
- 1919YWCA immigration secretary
- 1922Heads the Bureau of Immigration Service
A graduate of the New York School of Social Work (Columbia University), Mary E. Hurlbutt deepened her expertise through research in Vienna, London, Paris and Italy. Witnessing the upheavals of the post-war period, she understood very early on that traditional migration norms would become obsolete.
Convinced that a neutral body was needed to help governments assist migrants, she and her YWCA colleagues created the first international organisation devoted entirely to migration: the International Migration Service, which became International Social Service. She went on to teach social work in New York.
To what extent should human suffering be taken into account in new migration laws?
The question at the heart of the founding study led by Mary E. Hurlbutt and her colleagues