Peace/conflict

The developing-educational information centre EPiZ in Reutlingen is a house of global learning which acts on a regional and national level, as well as all on an international one. The program of EPiZ is “Bildung trifft Entwicklung” (BtE), “education meets development”, which allows global learning in cooperation with advisers from the development policy and from voluntary services related to development policy as well as with people from countries of the global south. The library and the global classroom with their interesting materials towards development policy give access to a variety of possibilities to deal with the topic of global learning. The rooms open for our guests the whole world in its cultural diversity and at the same time show acting options for one world.

Combating poverty, ensuring peace and preserving the environment: These are the three major concerns of Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation. Every year, about 600 projects and programmes are implemented and funds of well over EUR 100 million are deployed to improve living conditions in developing countries.

Together with the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs (MFA), partner countries, public institutions, civil-society organisations and businesses, ADA seeks to ensure that sustainable development works to the benefit of all people in Africa, Asia, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe as well as in the Caribbean. Personnel in 13 coordination offices make sure that ADA operations are in line with national development goals and the needs of the local population and that funds are put to the best possible use.

MFA allocates the ADA budget, but other federal ministries and donors or the EU, for example, draw on ADA expertise. Since 2008, the Austrian Development Agency has been conducting programmes for the European Commission. Via a further financing instrument, business partnerships, it allocates private funds for development cooperation: ADA promotes projects of enterprises in developing countries and emerging nations if they contribute to improving the conditions of life of the population in a region. Most funds are invested in its key regions and priority countries.

Management Consulting in the public sector

Goals:

• Support and promotion of human rights work
• Research on human rights matters
• Promotion of human rights education
• Communication and exchange of information with other human rights organisations

We work on the local, regional and international levels to promote and defend human rights. This work includes organisation of conferences and seminars and participation in research projects, publication of documents, and educational efforts concerning human rights.

PDCS is a non-governmental organization providing professional training and facilitation services, consultancy and advisory services in areas of conflict resolution, support of dialogue in the society, citizen participation and civil society development in Slovakia and abroad.

We have been bringing to life the slogan of our organization „The Joy of Learning, Deliberation, and Change“ since 1991 when PDCS was started at the Comenius University in Bratislava as part of the international educational program of Partners for Democratic Change. In 1994, an independent PDCS foundation was established which has continued as a civic association since 1997. We are also members of the Partners Network (https://www.partnersglobal.org/) comprising 20 partner centers which share the same mission and values of democratic change.

For a long time we have worked to co-create and strengthen the democratic culture, spread participation approaches and mechanisms for dialogue and conflict prevention. We have provided help in international development programs and arranged cultured dialogue among various interest groups. We fulfill our mission by working with nonprofit organizations, public administration institutions and cross-sector partnerships. Our training courses have been attended by over 25,000 participants in Slovakia and 45 countries and regions of the world, including Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Russia, Senegal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

PDCS also published 30 books in 8 languages.

The Afro-Asian Institute Salzburg (AAI) is a non-profit organisation with close ties to the university of Salzburg. It is financed by the public funds and the Catholic Church. The aims of the AAI are to provide educational services on development policy, to enable intercultural encounters and to promote interfaith dialogue.
The AAI is a meeting place for different cultures and religions. We show different global contexts through a varied educational and cultural program in order to raise awareness of injustices and set out development policy issues and its risks in the context of globalization. Affected individuals, as well as experts from the global South have an opportunity in our organization to take the floor. Within the framework of the AAI scholarship program, students from African, Asian and Latin American countries receive financial support, as well as a personal accompaniment and take part in our educational program.

The Global Marshall Plan initiative gets on as an integrative platform for a world in balance. Consisting of a network from more than 5000 supporters from all levels of society, it gathers politics, economy and civil society with five core demands to a fairer globalization.