German-Russian exchange
The German-Russian Exchange e. V. (DRA) is a non-profit association founded in 1992 to strengthen civil society in Western and Eastern European countries. The seat is in Berlin . The independent Russian partner organization German-Russian Exchange St. Petersburg (Nemezko-Russkij Obmen / NRO) also operates as a German-Russian exchange.
The association is involved in Russia and Germany, but also in Ukraine and Belarus (Belarus) with projects, exchange programs, expertise offers, events and publications for the promotion of civil society, democracy and European cooperation.
History and profile of the club
The association was founded in 1992 in Berlin and registered as an association. The partner office in St. Petersburg, also opened in 1992, became the legally independent partner organization German-Russian Exchange / St. Petersburg (Nemezko-Russkij Obmen / NRO).
The most important focus of work in the early years was the support of Russian non-governmental organizations . In addition, there was soon the mediation of voluntary services in Russian NGOs and social institutions, internships in German media for Russian journalists and NGO information from Russia to Germany.
In the following years the association gradually expanded its range of work. Today, in cooperation with international and local partners in Russia, Germany, Belarus, Ukraine and other European countries, with the support of his various sponsors, he realizes projects on the subjects of civil society, the environment, the media, education, human rights, ethnic reconciliation and integration. He conducts exchange programs between Germany and Eastern Europe (specialist meetings, voluntary services, student exchanges, internship exchange), advises actors from politics and society, organizes conferences, issues specialist publications and participates in the public discourse on his work topics.
The DRA Foundation was established in 2002 to support the association's work. In 2005 the DRA was co-founder of the European exchange gGmbH , which has been working independently since 2008. In 1998 the DRA was awarded the Theodor Heuss Medal for its civil society engagement in Eastern Europe . He is a member of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum (CSF), the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin, the Federal Working Group of Volunteer Agencies (BAGFA), the Berlin State Network for Citizens' Engagement and the State Working Group of Berlin Volunteer Agencies (LAGFA).
Focus of work
Promotion of civil society
In the 1990s, with the technical support of the newly founded DRA, NGO resource centers for knowledge exchange, networking and cooperation were established in the Russian cities of Volgograd (1994), Novosibirsk (1996) and Perm (1997). The centers were gradually handed over to Russian partners by 2005. In 2001 a network of social organizations was set up in the Volga region.
In 1998 the DRA started project work in Belarus and Ukraine. So he led u. a. carried out a support and networking project for twelve Belarusian NGOs. From 2003 he set up centers for social partnership in various Ukrainian regions. In Gomel, Belarus, and Izhevsk, Russia, the DRA accompanied the establishment of the first local volunteer agencies for other organizations from 2009.
In April 2010, the DRA and the European Exchange (EA gGmbH) presented the position paper “For a New Start in Civil Society Co-operation with Russia”, which was quickly signed by a number of European foundations and NGOs. Due to this initiative took place on 28/29. March 2011 in Prague with the participation of almost 60 organizations and citizens' movements from 17 countries the foundation of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum (CSF, number of members March 2014: 125). The managing director of the DRA was elected to the coordination council. From 2011 onwards, the DRA supervised several CSF projects, including an expert group on visa issues since the end of 2012. According to a recommendation of the CSF annual meeting in The Hague, the DRA has been building a new CSF secretariat in Berlin since February 2014.
Socio-political education
Many projects contain offers for political and social education, some are entirely in this area. The latter include the EU Study Schools, the DRA / Berlin and the DRA / St. Petersburg on behalf of the Representation of the EU Commission in Moscow in 2007/08. The series has been continued as EU Study Weeks since 2012.
For interested groups from Eastern Europe (employees of companies, technical or university groups, etc.), the DRA conducts educational trips in Germany, the program of which takes into account topics from politics, business, science, culture and society depending on the selected focus.
Ethnic reconciliation and social issues
Since 2001 there has been a special focus of the association's commitment to ethnic reconciliation in the crisis region of the North Caucasus: Measures to support North Ossetian refugees in the Russian republic of Ingushetia in building up small businesses (until 2003) were followed by the establishment of an inter-ethnic vocational training center in Kurtat in cooperation with the Russian human rights organization Memorial ( Prigorodnyj Rajon).
From 2005 to 2012, the association took on the management of a project for the NGO "Perspektivy" St. Petersburg to improve care standards in homes for the disabled in Peterhof and Pavlovsk.
ecology
The Russian-German Bureau for Environmental Information (RNEI) emerged from a DRA project started in 2009 to strengthen environmental journalism in Russia and registered as an independent NGO in St. Petersburg in 2011. The RNEI supports the participation of NGO representatives at the annual UN climate summits, trains Russian journalists on ecological issues and organizes events on environmental and climate issues.
The DRA and the RNEI jointly publish a bilingual series of monitoring reports with a German-Russian focus under the title “Climate Protection and Human Rights”.
Exchange programs
In cooperation with the German Federal Press Office, the DRA enabled Russian journalists to sit in on German media from 1994 to 2001. In later years there were repeated German-Russian exchange programs for journalists.
In 1998 the DRA founded its European Volunteer Agency for the placement of volunteers from Germany to Eastern Europe and vice versa. The program participants work monthly in non-governmental organizations and social institutions. The German-Russian student exchange of the DRA (school attendance or social internship) has existed since 2008, the internship exchange Russia, Eastern and Central Europe (PAROM) opened the DRA in 2011.
A specialist exchange program on youth and social work between Berlin and the Russian republic of Udmurtia has been part of the DRA's activities since 2009. Since 2011, the association has been taking on core tasks for the Berlin Senate as part of the Berlin – Moscow city partnership in the organization of youth encounters and the exchange of skilled workers for youth work.
Public discourse and expertise
Since 1995, the DRA has been holding the "German-Russian Autumn Talks" in Berlin every year together with the Evangelical Academy in Berlin and the Heinrich Böll Foundation (co-organizer until 2011, then sponsor). In the panel discussions and working groups of the conference, leading experts from Germany, Russia and other countries as well as the participants deal with changing topics from politics and society, such as the development of democracy, ecology, coping with history, migration and integration, rule of law, demography, school or family policy, Xenophobia a. m.
The association has repeatedly expressed criticism of the new NGO legislation in Russia since 2012 and its consequences. In his public statements, he calls on the German government as well as the EU to address political problems in Russia (such as election fraud, deficits in the rule of law, human and civil rights violations, corruption, restrictions on freedom of the press, annexation of Crimea ) with clear, public words. At the same time, in the opinion of the association, existing partnership relations with Russia should not only not be terminated but, on the contrary, should be deepened under a democratic auspices.
The DRA regularly - mostly in Berlin - holds panel discussions, film screenings and other events on German-Russian topics from politics, culture and society. The association also offers specialist lectures as well as advice and technical and organizational support for actors from politics, business and civil society.
Migration and integration
The association also addresses Russian-speaking immigrants in Germany with its project work. With a German-Russian volunteer exchange in Berlin (2000–2012) he promoted civic engagement among this population group and provided interested parties with appropriate activities. The “professija.DE” project (2009–2012), which is located in the Leipzig, Potsdam and Rostock regions, included, among other things, advice and networking opportunities for Russian-speaking entrepreneurs.
In March 2014, the DRA started the one-year project “haben.leben.in berlin”, which aims to contribute to integration and interreligious dialogue in the federal capital. Cooperation partners are the Jewish Community of Berlin and the Muslim Intercultural Center for Dialogue and Education in Berlin-Wedding (IZDB).
Cooperation partner and financing
The DRA eV (Berlin) works with numerous partners in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and a number of other countries. These are mainly supra-regional and regional non-governmental organizations. Depending on the content and orientation of the individual projects of the association, there are also collaborations with universities, social institutions and local authorities.
The work of DRA eV, which is recognized as a non-profit organization, is financed by project-related grants from foundations and public bodies as well as by membership fees and donations. The donors so far have included the EU Commission, various federal ministries, the German Federal Environment Foundation , aid organizations of the Protestant and Catholic Churches ( Bread for the World ), Renovabis , Paritätische Berlin, the Robert Bosch Foundation , the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation , the Marion Dönhoff Foundation, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, Future and the like. a. m. Another essential resource of the DRA is the commitment of many volunteers and volunteers.
The DRA St. Petersburg
The German-Russian exchange in St. Petersburg, which has been independent since 1998 from a partner office of DRA eV (Berlin), conducts exchange programs, projects and events to promote Russian civil society, partly together with DRA eV / Berlin, partly independently or with other cooperation partners by. Special focus areas are educational offers on European politics in the Russian regions, the placement of voluntary services, the German-Russian student exchange, the au pair placement (in cooperation with the Association for International Youth Work ), various projects to promote social tolerance and voluntary work Engagements as well as discussion and cultural events. The work of the DRA / St. Petersburg is financed from project-related grants and donations.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of the winners of the Theodor Heuss Medal ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
- ↑ Position paper "For a New Start in Civil Society Co-operation with Russia" ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Visa project on the CSF homepage ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The EU Study Weeks on the website of the EU delegation in Russia , last accessed April 25, 2014
- ↑ Brochure from the Berlin Senate Administration on twinning in the area of family and youth policy ( memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file)
- ^ Article by Deutschlandradio Kultur from November 18, 2006, last accessed April 25, 2014
- ↑ Declaration by the DRA on the planned tightening of the NGO law ( memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Article by Deutsche Welle with a statement by DRA managing director Stefan Melle
- ↑ Declaration "Expectations of the DRA on the future federal government's Eastern European policy" from October 22, 2013 ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Article in enthnotrade, spring 2006 ( memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
