German deaf youth
The German Deaf Youth e. V. ( DGJ ) with an office in Berlin is a nationwide association of state associations of deaf people who work with young people, as well as independent organizations of deaf young people. The German Deaf Youth thus represents the interests of 14,000 hard of hearing and deaf children and young people nationwide . Approx. 6,600 members from more than 600 associations are organized in the DGJ through the regional associations.
history
The German Deaf Youth was founded on March 20, 2004 in Hamburg and officially admitted to the German Deaf Association in October 2005 as an independent youth organization .
Focus of work
The DGJ has a wide range of offers for deaf and hard of hearing children and young people. This includes a children's camp, a youth camp, various educational events and advice. In addition, the German Deaf Youth represents the interests of deaf and hard of hearing children and young people on a political level. To this end, the association collects and bundles demands, wishes and interests of deaf and hard of hearing children and adolescents and represents them to public and private bodies at the federal level. The DGJ also conducts public relations work to inform and sensitize society to deafness, hearing loss and sign language. The development and securing of framework conditions for an efficient infrastructure of child and youth work with regard to the deaf and hard of hearing in Germany is another field of activity of the German Deaf Youth.
The cooperation with other national and international associations like the European Union of Deaf Youth and the World Federation of Deaf Youth , which support deaf and hard of hearing children and young people, is part of the tasks of the German Deaf Youth. This goes hand in hand with the goal of promoting the growing together of the young deaf generation in Europe by calling for understanding and tolerance across borders.
construction
The DGJ is headed by an honorary board. It consists of the federal youth chairperson and a financial officer who jointly cover the areas of finance, public relations and project coordination. There may also be other assessors. The honorary board is supported by full-time staff in the office in Berlin. All state associations in the federal territory are considered full members. Extraordinary members of the DGJ are z. B. various independent youth organizations. The Federal Youth Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the DGJ and takes place annually in different places in Germany. The federal youth committee consists of two federal youth chairpersons and one finance officer each.
Awards
Person of the year of the German Deaf Youth
Every year in the German Deaf Youth e. V. a young person or young adult named “Person of the Year”. This person will be proposed and selected by the young people of the deaf community themselves if they have done a lot for deaf people in a year in areas such as culture, politics, education and others and if their outstanding commitment is to be rewarded.
Youth Prize of the German Deaf Youth
The youth award of the German Deaf Youth is awarded in connection with the youth festival. Here a person on the board of the German Deaf Youth is selected and honored. The commitment of the person should be decisive for the pigeon community in the long term, as he / she has campaigned for deaf people in areas such as culture, politics, education, etc.