Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation is an independent organization for development based in Switzerland with affiliated organizations in Germany and the United States. The organization is committed to a just world in which all men and women determine the course of their lives in dignity and security, using environmental resources in a sustainable manner. Helvetas supports poor and disadvantaged women, men, and communities in about thirty developing and transition countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
Helvetas is active in five working areas: water and infrastructure, skills development and education, sustainable and inclusive economies, governance and peace and environment and climate change. The organization engages in emergency relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation. In addition to rural areas, it is increasingly involved in urban development and is focusing its work on young women and men.