What we do
Family support
Supporting parents in exercising their responsibilities and rights across borders.
inked to geographical distance, differences in legal and cultural frameworks and the complexity of family relationships. These realities can make parenting more complex and give rise to questions, communication difficulties or disagreements between parents, which may lead to parental abduction or difficulties in maintaining the relationship between the child and the parent concerned.
In this context, ISS Switzerland offers support to help parents understand their situation and find suitable solutions, always placing the child’s interests and needs at the centre of the process.
Seeking amicable solutions
ISS aims to support parents in seeking amicable solutions and establishing constructive dialogue.
Depending on the specific features of each situation, the applicable legal framework and the needs identified, ISS Switzerland may offer different forms of intervention, including international family mediation, parallel parenting support or individual support for parents.
Thematic consultations
ISS Switzerland also offers consultations on various topics to inform and guide parents facing a transnational family situation. These consultations provide initial insight into the legal, social and practical issues involved and help identify possible resources and steps. The consultations available are:
- Preventing parental conflict
- Preventing international child abduction
- Parental responsibilities and rights
- Binational consultations (in German-speaking Switzerland)
- Adoption and kafala
Parental consensus
Since 2020, ISS Switzerland has been supporting French-speaking cantons in introducing the parental consensus model (the “Cochem” method). Two pilot projects have been developed under ISS Switzerland’s coordination, in the Canton of Valais and the Canton of Fribourg. Proven abroad, the parental consensus model aims to help separating parents find amicable solutions that meet their children’s needs and prevent the children from becoming a stake in the conflict. These solutions include referring parents to mediation and co-parenting support.
Accompagner une mère souhaitant rentrer en Suisse avec ses enfants
Une mère suisse vivant en Scandinavie avec ses deux enfants a sollicité le SSI Suisse dans un contexte familial marqué par des violences psychologiques et des menaces. Souhaitant rentrer en Suisse avec ses enfants, elle a bénéficié d’un accompagnement visant à identifier une issue respectueuse de l’intérêt supérieur des enfants.
Le SSI Suisse a privilégié une approche amiable en engageant une démarche auprès du père, afin de favoriser le dialogue et de rechercher un accord permettant d’envisager le retour en Suisse dans les meilleures conditions possibles pour les enfants. L’intervention vise à soutenir la famille dans la recherche d’une solution concertée, tout en plaçant la sécurité et le bien-être des enfants au cœur des démarches entreprises.
