Swiss Review 5/2019

Swiss Review / September 2019 / No.5 29 A full-length article about the project has been published (in German, French and Italian) at swissinfo.ch – the ten-language online service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Do you also live abroad? Upload your Instagram pictures with the hashtag #WeAreSwissAbroad. Giving people a second chance Lucerne-born Matthias Oppliger (45) offers a new start to victims of human trafficking by employing them at his sewing business in Tel Aviv – a project that the Israeli government has got to know about. Idea: It all began on a family holiday in Tel Aviv. During their time there, the Oppligers came up with the idea of creating jobs for for- mer sex workers and other victims of human trafficking. Israel proved to be the perfect place to grow their new business. Project: kite.pride makes bags and rucksacks out of used kite-surf- ing sails, parachutes, yacht sails, and wetsuits. In doing so, the com- pany wants to give former victims of human trafficking a new start – by offering fair wages for fair work in a secure, exploitation-free environment. Location: CEO and founder Matthias Oppliger chose a strategic lo- cation in southern Tel Aviv – in a neighbourhood plagued by the im- pact of human trafficking, where many former refugees now live. Many women from the former Soviet states end up here and are forced into prostitution. Success story: Oppliger has a team of 15 employees and eight vol- unteers from all around the world. Not all of his workers have had a traumatic past. There are also volunteers, including from Switzer- land, who come regularly to help – young people who want to do something worthwhile on holiday and use their time in Israel pro- ductively. “You get out what you put in,” says Oppliger. “That’s a wage worth working for.” COMMUNITY FOR THE SWISS ABROAD Federal votes The Federal Council determines voting proposals at least four months before the voting date. National Council elections take place on 20 October 2019. For information about the National Council elec- tions, visit www.ch.ch/en/elections2019 . Everything you need to know about voting proposals (voting pamphlets, committees, recommendations by Parliament and the Federal Council, electronic voting, etc.) is available at www.admin.ch/votes or via the Federal Chancellery’s VoteInfo app. The Federal Council has decided not to hold a fed- eral popular vote on 24 November 2019. The next vot- ing date is 9 February 2020. Popular initiatives The following federal popular initiative had been launched at the time of going to press (deadline for the collection of signatures in brackets): ■ ■ “Yes to giving the public more say in health and acci- dent insurance” (02.01.2021) The list of pending popular initiatives is available in Ger- man at www.bk.admin.ch > Politische Rechte > Volksin- itiativen > Hängige Volksinitiativen Responsible for the FDFA official communications: Simone Flubacher, Relations with the Swiss Abroad Effingerstrasse 27, 3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. +41 800 24 7 365 or +41 58 465 33 33 www.eda.admin.ch , email: helpline@eda.admin.ch