Youth

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports

We support teachers in Switzerland at all levels in their daily work by giving them impulses for their lessons which are directed towards a viable development in a global society. We sell and lend over 800 tried and tested teaching aids in German, French and Italian language. We provide teacher training. We inform and advise with relation to Global Education. We are part of a network of national and international organisations having similar aims.

The North German mission, with its head office in Bremen, was founded in 1836 by Lutherans and Reformed Christians. Since 1847, it has been involved in development projects in West Africa. Now the NM works on behalf of its associated churches: the Bremische Evangelische Kirche, the Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche in Oldenburg, the Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche, the Lippische Landeskirche and (since 2001 as an equal partner) the Eglise Evangélique Presbytérienne du Togo and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana. The NM helps people in Togo and its neighboring country, Ghana, West Africa, to improve their standard of living. The Protestant churches in Ghana and Togo are the NM's partners on site. Their church services strengthen the people's faith and lead to the foundation of new parishes. The NM also supports social projects that promote humanitarian development,. Within these projects the NM fulfills diverse tasks, such as supporting schools, hospitals, and health care centers, programs for women, projects for youth welfare and agriculture, training in crafts and skills. Furthermore, the NM promotes self-help groups that organize their own courses against illiteracy for women, reforestation projects, and the training of unemployed youths In addition, the NM helps to establish contacts between people of different cultures by organizing workshops, partnerships among parishes, and conferences (for example to establish a dialog between Christians and Muslims).

The NM is financed by Church subsidies and other means; every donation goes entirely to Ghana and Togo. Without these donations, projects of the associated churches could not be carried out and many people would remain without aid.

The White Freedom Ribbon Campaign

• is an open platform. We gather knowledge and information from organisations on the topic of our 'one world'.
• addresses young people. School children are our main target group. We hope to interest teachers in the topic of 'one world' so that they will introduce it into their lesson plans.
• initiates action. Learning leads to action – action stimulates learning.
• supports the commitment of volunteers. Pupils get to know the work of the organisations and can play a part in these efforts.
• is independent. We are not affiliated with any ideology or political party. Thanks to our journalistic orientation, we are committed to providing an unbiased information platform.

The White Freedom Ribbon Campaign was founded in February 2003 against the backdrop of the impending war in Iraq. With our initiative, we as journalists hope to expand the perspectives of young people.