Its purpose was to alleviate the effects of the Great Depression and to support workers' families in precarious situations in Switzerland and abroad, in part by funding holiday camps.

In 1949, the SAH was one of the first Swiss relief organizations to become involved in international development aid, working in Greece, Palestine/Israel, Yugoslavia and, after the Algerian War, in Algeria and Tunisia.

The SAH supported political refugees from the Hungarian uprising, the Prague Spring, the Nigerian Civil War and the Greek junta.

In 2024, Solidar is active in 15 countries: Burkina Faso, Mozambique, South Africa, Kosovo, Bosnia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Türkiye, Syria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, China, Bolivia, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

[7] It also takes part in the Popular Initiative "Responsible enterprises – to protect the human being and the environment" and carried out, in 2011, 2013 and 2016, an evaluation of the communal policies for development cooperation and fair purchasing.

In each country where Solidar is active, there is a coordination office managed by local experts in the field of humanitarian aid and development cooperation.

[8] Solidar Suisse publishes the magazine "Solidarität-Solidarité"[9] four times a year in German and French, which reports on its international projects and deals with general topics related to development cooperation.