Union/Association

European Network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees

Student Union of the University of Helsinki

The OeVA - Oecumenical Planing-Comittee for the Intercultural Week in Germany (ÖVA - Ökumenische Vorbereitungsausschuss) prepares the annual intercultural week (IKW) which is taking place all over the country. It recommends content focuses, suggests a theme, carries out the annual, nationwide preparatory conference  offers materials available for the preparatory groups and organizes a central nationwide inaugural event.In the EPC 15 members are appointed from the churches. Up to six additional members are coopted from institutions, organizations and socially important areas.

What is the intercultural week?
The annual intercultural week (IKW) is an initiative of the German bishops' conference (DBK - Deutschen Bischofskonferenz), the Protestant church in Germany (EKD - Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland) and the Greek-orthodox Metropolie that takes place throughout all Germany. The intercultural week is held ince 1975 at the end of September and is supported by churches, local authority districts, welfare associations, trade unions, integration advisory boards and commissioned, migrant's organizations and initiative groups. In 2016 about 5,000 events were carried out in more than 500 towns and municipalities. The Refugee Day is a component of the intercultural week.

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.

BOND provides a central point for advocacy on issues on which member organisations have a common view and would benefit from having a common voice. BOND focuses its advocacy work on government-civil society relations. It aims to ensure that government policies promote the autonomy and diversity of civil society organisations, allowing for participation of a broad range of southern and northern stakeholders in both decision making and the implementation of development - Mobilising civil society organisations to campaign in 2005 to make poverty history

• Facilitating dialogue between BOND members and a range of UK Government bodies
• The UK Aid Network pooling resources and expertise on aid volume and effectiveness
• Promoting engagement with strategic issues facing UK-based international NGOs
• Changes in the global security environment and international development
• EU advocacy programme: 'Europe in the World'

Third World Saar Campaign (Aktion 3. Welt Saar) is a social organization that is not linked to any political party. We are not involved in any projects in the Third World because we think that we do not have the right to develop people in other countries. Our objective is to make a difference in Germany. For centuries, Europe has forced its ideas about development upon other countries and thereby destroyed development programs that were already in process. Now it is time to put an end to this kind of violent development policy.

Since we are not associated with any political party, we refuse to focus on one individual objective. Some people expect us to stand up exclusively for topics related to the Third World and stay out of German politics because they assume we cannot achieve anything anyway. But instead, we interfere because we care. We want to bring about changes in Germany.

As an organization that is not linked to any political party, we commit ourselves to topics such as fair trade, world trade, nutrition, political asylum, racism, migration, energy policies, anti-Semitism, militarization, ecology and development policies. Above all, we try to do something about the unequal distribution of goods in the world. We intend to make sure that everyone has access to intellectual and material resources and does not live in poverty and misery.

We, the Third World Saar Campaign,

• are financed by our members and sponsors and are not linked to any political party, church or lobby;
• annually organize 120 events and campaigns independently or in cooperation with other organizations;
• establish networks, link up groups and people and initiate campaigns;
• recommend speakers and provide counselling for the organization of events;
• publish the results of our research and studies on a regular basis.