Lobby

SOS Faim is a development NGO recognised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg. SOS Faim supports peasants organizations and microfinance institutions in Africa. SOS Faim also leads awareness
campaigns in Luxembourg.

The refugee council tries to tangibly improve the life situation of refugees in Lower Saxony with specific projects. We do not only want to criticize  discriminating treatment of refugees, but also to intervene and change the situation.

The main focal areas of our project work includes:

• asylum and health,
• child refugees,
• access to the job market,
• (anti-) discrimination,
• temporary right for tolerated refugees, and
• networking of refugee relief.

The refugee council of Lower Saxony was founded in 1984 and is registered as a charitable organization. It consists of a network of about 500 refugee initiatives, congregations, labour unions and individuals who do not consent to the prevalent discrimination of refugees in Lower Saxony. This network provides the basis for fighting racism in Lower Saxony. The refugee council is a member of PRO ASYL (German Human Rights organization) and cooperates closely with the refugee councils of other German federal states.

Considering the decrease of funded refugee work it is important to maintain the remaining support structures for refugees and to further strengthen the initiatives. In cooperation with other associations our goal is to network and improve refugee work in Lower Saxony.

Our activities include:

• professional counselling,
• seminars and symposia,
• public relations work,
• legal assistance in individual cases,
• publishing of  the Flüchtlingsrat (refugee council) magazine,
• representation of the interests of refugees in Lower Saxony, and
• critical monitoring of refugee policy in Lower Saxony.

WEED is an independent NGO and was founded in 1990. Our goal is to create more awareness in Germany for the causes of worldwide poverty and environmental problems. WEED is committed to national and international networks and unites organisations and initiatives in the North and South.

Our focus is on:

• international indebtedness, debt clearance initiatives and Germany's role in this context;
• politics, projects and programmes of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank;
• reforming and democratizing the international financial markets;
• international trade policy and WTO (World Trade Organisation);
• the North-South policy of the European Union, and international environmental and development policy

WEED performs research, collects background material, and writes working papers, including for example, the WEED-Schuldenreport (the Weed debt report) that is published on a regular basis and provides information on indebtedness. WEED runs campaigns, talks to political decision-makers and intervenes in political decision-making processes. WEED wants to draw attention to these problems by organizing seminars, workshops and conferences, by collaborating with the media and through public relations. WEED works together with national and international NGOs, and supports and completes the work of other environmental and developmental organisations.

Through global learning, scholastic education becomes part of the international world. The process of global learning will help students understand the concept of the One World, and it will allow them to identify the interrelations between various global issues. While inspiring them to address questions that have remained unsolved, it will also encourage young people to take active part in shaping the world of tomorrow.

It was with this in mind that the German state of Baden-Württemberg created the Foundation for Development Cooperation in 1991. The SEZ's main focus lies on education and public relations with regards to the relationship between the northern and the southern hemispheres. We see ourselves as an advisory center for individuals and groups that have taken an interest in the so-called "Third World". Our main objective is to support exchange and networking between individuals and groups involved in development policy, and to assist private, communal and regional initiatives working in the context of the Third World.

In the educational sector, the foundation acts as an information center for global learning in Baden-Württemberg. We are able to provide schools with a variety of information, ideas, advice, and teaching materials concerning the "One World". The resources we offer include various publications and workshop materials.

While offering advice, we also help schools design workshops and establish contacts with guest speakers and artists. We offer assistance in all aspects and stages of projects such as exchange programs or the twinning of schools. In addition, we advise those who are interested in gaining work experience abroad, for example as an intern. We see ourselves as a forum for exchange and continuing education, and we cooperate with higher state departments of education in order to hold seminars and workshops on a regular basis.