OUR HISTORY

SwissABILITY was created in 2022 by its Executive Director, Roberto Agosta. He has 30 years of experience working in the humanitarian field in Africa and in the Middle East.

Roberto’s career in international cooperation and humanitarian emergencies began in 1991, in South Africa. After three years, he moved to Mozambique, where he remained until 2003. This was his first experience in developing community projects in the fields of education, public health and potable water supply.

On his return to Switzerland, with other partners, he founded SwissLeg, a social enterprise that promoted the ‘Monolimb’ technology, an innovative, high-mobility, low-cost prosthesis that allowed thousands of amputees in the Middle East and Africa the ability to walk again.

In order to increase the accessibility of the Monolimb technology, in 2016 Roberto founded SwissLimbs, a non-profit association that promotes both the spread of this innovative technology and the expansion of rehabilitation services in vulnerable nations, principally by providing orthopedic training and creation or rehabilitation of orthopedic centers.

After 6 very successful years with SwissLimbs, Roberto decided to establish his own association. In 2022, SwissABILITY was born to respond to a wider scope of the practical needs of the most vulnerable. SwissAbility’s goals reach beyond physical rehabilitation, to include the creation of infrastructure and support towards a higher level of self-sufficiency for the person/family concerned.

The countries where we presently work are Mozambique, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.

In all these countries, we work with reliable local partners who know the context and have proven experience in the field. SwissABILITY can also rely on a network of more than 200 orthopedic professionals who collaborate and share information.