Barbara Hofmann

Barbara Karoline Hofmann (born 8 March 1962) is a Swiss humanitarian and charity worker and is the Founder and CEO of ASEM (Association en faveur de l’Enfance Mozambicaine - The Association for the Children of Mozambique), a non-profit organization based in Beira in Mozambique. Hofmann founded ASEM in Switzerland in 1991, following which in 1999 she founded ASEM-Mozambique in Mozambique itself. ASEM is a charitable organisation dedicated to raising funds and awareness about the plight of the children and young adults of Mozambique

Biography Hofmann was born in Affoltern am Albis in Switzerland in 1962. She attended Collège Calvin and after trained in business administration and finance following which she had a seven-year career in various banks and multinational companies. In 1989 she was working for a large charity in Beira in Mozambique where she saw for herself the result of the Mozambican War of Independence (1964-1974) and the Mozambican Civil War (1977-1994), both of which lead to great poverty for many people in the country. What she saw decided her to devote her life to helping the orphans in Mozambique.

On completion of successful renegotiations she opened the first Home for war orphans in 1992, firstly in tents, which provided food, education and accommodation for 300 children orphaned as a result of the conflicts. In 1991 Hofmann founded ASEM Switzerland through which voluntary workers collected essential resources to transfer to Beira. ASEM Switzerland was followed in 1995 by the setting up of the support organisations ASEM Portugal and ASEM New York, honorary citizenship in Selvazzano Dentro (PD), Italy, 2017