The right to work is closely associated with up-to-date and sustainable development co-operation. The trading of goods with producers in the countries of the South is not only about fair prices and long-term purchasing commitments.

In its resolution dated 17 December 2018, the United Nations clearly states that smallholders must be given the opportunity to form producers’ associations. Further training and collective bargaining are the only ways for farmers to defend their interests and to make use of participation effectively.

The objective is to avoid dependencies and to give human beings the freedom to shape their lives in a sustainable manner, free from financial distress, with self-determination and on their own responsibility, enabling their children to have a good future.
This is one of the objectives the bioRe Foundation has been working towards for 25 years. While progress has been achieved, external drivers regularly create new challenges for us. It has always been our ambition to co-operate with our partners on an equal footing, and to plan and implement our social and agricultural sponsorship projects together with the people in India and Tanzania.

I am resigning as the Chairman of the Foundation at the end of the 21/22 financial year.

After 19 years of service on the bioRe Board of Trustees and 10 years in its chair, I look back on an eventful and very valuable period of time.

I would like to thank Patrick Hohmann for his work as a pioneer, and Coop and Remei both of which have taken on a large amount of responsibility over 25 years. A big thank-you goes to all those who have supported and will continue to support the Foundation as donors, partners, employees, or trustees.

The bioRe Foundation builds on a solid foundation. I wish it all the best in continuing to fulfil its purpose to enable the smallholder families to lead sustainable lives in self-determination and dignity.

Yours truly, Jürg Peritz
Chairman of the bioRe Foundation

The right to health

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was enacted at the AGM of the UN. The right to health is described as follows:

Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.[…]» (claiminghumanrights.org)

In Switzerland, we have a highly developed health system and a broad social security net. In the countries of the global South however, basic needs, such as healthy water, hygiene and medical care are still unavailable.

The lettering in the bioRe® Foundation logo reads: “Human Rights Organic Cotton”. We directly connect human rights with organic cotton farming. Because organic farming without the use of agrochemicals will bring health benefits to the farmer families while working on the fields. And through numerous social bioRe projects, we promote a dignified life for the organic farmer families in India and Tanzania.

We often take our own health for granted and pay too little attention on a good balance of our resources. Each year we see the consequences of exploitation of natural resources more clearly. The earth has a fever, its temperature is steadily rising. Nevertheless, humans depend on a healthy environment, because without it there will be no future.

We at bioRe Foundation, in collaboration with Remei, assume ecological, social and economic responsibility through organic farming. Further we commit ourselves to fairness and sustainability along the entire value chain through our bioRe standards.

I thank you for your support of the bioRe promotion projects and wish you a future in good health.

Jürg Peritz, President od the bioRe® Foundation

Detailed annual statement upon request.

Key figures 2020-21

Education is the future

The right to education is for me personally one of the most important human rights. Without education, children are exposed to exploitation and abuse. Education is the future. Education fights poverty. School lays – and maybe this is as important as the content of the lessons – the foundation for a happy childhood with friendships and a daily routine.

Until today, there are about 120 million children in the world that do not visit school. How can they develop their personality and potential? Where should they get to know their rights – the human rights? Freedom without discrimination, the right to work, freedom of expression, all these fundamentally important rights can only be transmitted through the access to schools.

My most beautiful memories of the journeys to India are the visits to the children in the bioRe® schools. The shining eyes of the children, the happiness and the discipline, the simplicity and the commitment of the teachers have always moved me and inspired me to give the subject of education a high priority in our Foundation.

hope to be able to continue to count on your support and thank you very much for your personal interest in the bioRe® Foundation and our projects in India and Tanzania.

Jürg Peritz, president of the bioRe® Foundation

Annual financial statement upon request