Union/Association

The AG Bildung im iz3w offers a versatile range of material on the topic of North-South policy for youths and teachers in political education. We offer workshops, project days and seminars, produce radio podcasts and films and provide educational material on CD-ROM.

EADI, the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, is the leading European network in the field of development research and training. EADI is a Europe-wide network of institutes, researchers and students of various disciplines in the field of development studies. It organises activities and offers facilities for the international exchange of knowledge and experience in the professional field. Its most prominent activity is a General Conference devoted to a topical issue every three years. The official languages of EADI are English and French. EADI is the prime professional association for development studies. As such it promotes: quality in research and education in development studies, the exchange of relevant information among members and with others, the strengthening of relevant knowledge networks at the regional and global level, and influencing both national and European decision-makers in the development cooperation field. EADI’s two objectives are, firstly, to generate and stimulate and exchange of information among European academics and researchers concerned with development issues and to develop contacts with researchers from other regions of the world. And secondly, to promote interdisciplinary studies on specific themes. EADI is financed by its members’ contributions, an institutional grant from the German government and other project-related subsidies and private donations. EADI receives core funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) and the Land North Rhine-Westphalia / City of Bonn.

The DEAB is composed of over 100 Third World Stores, Third World Groups and other organizations related to development policy in Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is the parent organization for action groups involved in development policy and it focuses on topics like debt remission, fair trade and development aid. The many DEAB representatives acting within diverse committees work constantly to foster basic human rights in developing countries. The DEAB is the oldest and largest German network related to development policy. Every organization or group in Baden-Wuerttemberg which is engaged in development policy and which promotes justice worldwide can become a member of the DEAB.

The SüdZeit is a DEAB magazine that sets new trends related to development policy within and outside of Baden-Wuerttemberg. This magazine is published quarterly and contains reports, portraits and detailed overviews related to development policy activities in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Part of the service section of the SüdZeit is available at www.deab.de, the regularly updated website of the DEAB.

The DEAB group advisors for fair trade in Mannheim, Bodensee-Oberschwaben and Stuttgart support volunteers who work in "third world" shops or are involved in our action groups. Each of these groups can contact our advising services in case of problems or questions concerning issues like moving to a new location, sales levels, group activities or possible cooperation with other groups in its region.

Furthermore, the DEAB can provide a "fair trade" stand for professional use at consumer fairs. It is also engaged in an international campaign for debt remission (www.erlassjahr.de). The DEAB is a founding member of the Germany-wide "attac" network.
The DEAB fights for a vision of worldwide justice that encourages everyone to live and act responsibly in business and political life so that people everywhere can live a life of dignity. The DEAB also provides information about social ills in our globalized world, shows how we are partly responsible for those problems, and promotes change for the better.

The GEW (union of individuals employed in education and science) represents the educational branch of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB). The GEW comprises 260,000 men and women who work as educational and academic professionals at primary schools, Hauptschule (one of the two types of non-college track German secondary schools), Realschulen (one of the two types of non-college track high schools in Germany), college preparatory high schools, comprehensive secondary schools, vocational schools, special schools, secondary schools, Kollegschule (Hessian version of the Berufskolleg – school for older students who wish to go back to school to obtain the Abitur) and other school types, as well as in day-care centres and youth centres, universities, scientific and research institutes, at adult education centres and other institutes of continuing education, at German schools and universities abroad, and at Goethe institutes around the world. Unemployed educators and academics are also members of the GEW, where they have equal rights with students.

For the GEW, education is the main concern for the future of our society. Children as well as adults have to learn how to maintain our basic living conditions and to facilitate a peaceful coexistence. The GEW does not limit itself to empty promises, but rather gets involved on the ground, e.g. by providing reasonable working conditions, securing jobs in the educational sector, developing and carrying out pedagogical reform projects like all-day schools or integration classes, demonstrating the importance of infantile education and organizing campaigns to fight xenophobia. The GEW fights to preserve jobs in the educational sector, especially in the new German Länder. The GEW is not only a unionised lobby for its members, but also an educational political and socio-political pressure group for learners of all ages, be it children, youths or adults. We offer our members the support of a trade union – legal protection, guidance, information, learning opportunities as well as numerous possibilities to get involved in the social policy and education-related debate. In addition, we support social projects and promote international solidarity. Equal opportunities, co-determination, social security and democracy are GEW's most important guidelines.