INKOTA network

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INKOTA network
logo
purpose Development policy, development cooperation
Chair: Magdalena joy shot
Executive Director: Arndt von Massenbach
Establishment date: October 31, 1971
Number of members: 150, including 21 initiatives
Seat : Berlin
Website: inkota.de

The INKOTA network e. V. is a development organization with headquarters in Berlin . It was founded in 1971 as an ecumenical working group in the GDR and has been an independent non-profit association based in Berlin since 1990. Its members include grassroots development groups, parishes, world shops and individuals involved. A regional office is located in Dresden .

history

The association was founded in 1971 in Halle (Saale) by Protestant and Catholic students as well as other committed people and continued the work of the “ Action Group for the Hungry ” in East Germany. It was founded in 1957 as one of the first German development organizations by President Dr. Lothar Kreyssig , Bishop Kurt Scharf , Willy Brandt , Heinz Galinski and others.

In the GDR, the association campaigned for independent information on the North-South conflict and the vision of a life of solidarity, as well as for North-South partnerships across closed borders. The name INKOTA ( IN formation, KO ordination, TA gungen) stood for the exchange of independent information, the coordination of joint activities and the organization of conferences on development issues.

In the 1980s, the association, as an ecumenical working group under the umbrella of the Federation of Evangelical Churches , supported and shaped the council process for justice, peace and the integrity of creation in the GDR. Like other groups in the civil rights movement, the INKOTA network was in opposition to the existing conditions.

Focus of work

The main areas include:

  • Education, public relations and campaign work on development issues: The aim of the campaign work is to mobilize public support for a socially just, ecologically sustainable and peaceful globalization that allows all people and future generations to live in dignity and to develop independently. The main topics are the indebtedness of developing countries , international trade and agricultural policy and the corporate social responsibility of globally operating companies. INKOTA works in various political networks and is one of the founding members of the globalization-critical network Attac in Germany. Publications such as the Südlink magazine and the INKOTA -tex series of publications offer information and discussion forums on development policy issues, in the first half of the 1990s. a. also supports the publication Mahfel . In 2009 INKOTA is promoting the nationwide showing of the ARTE film Monsanto, with poison and genes , in order to initiate a discussion on the power of this seed company over world food. The club is part of We're sick of it! Movement for an agricultural turnaround and co-sponsor of the demonstration of the same name that has been taking place since 2011. In 2013 the organization started the Europe-wide campaign "Make Chocolate Fair!", Which was soon supported by numerous organizations in 12 European countries. INKOTA works in multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Fair Wear Foundation and the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles with the aim of improving working conditions in the textile and clothing industry. INKOTA supported the "Change your Shoes" initiative, with the aim of achieving better working conditions and the right to organize in trade unions within the Indian shoe industry in the long term.
  • Development cooperation projects: Support for grassroots organizations in Nicaragua , El Salvador , Guatemala , Vietnam and Mozambique . The aim of the project work is to improve the living conditions of underprivileged people in these countries in the long term and to promote alternative social, economic and political structures. The focus of the project is on local rural development , human rights , advancement of women and working with disabled and traumatized children.

financing

The association's work is financed by:

It bears the donation seal of the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) .

Memberships

The association is a member of the following organizations, alliances and campaigns:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Willi Volks : Liberation attempt from the tightness. The work of the independent Nicaragua groups in the GDR, in: ders. And Erika Harzer (eds.), Aufbruch nach Nicaragua. German-German solidarity in system competition , Berlin: Christoph Links Verlag, 2008, pp. 68–72, here p. 72.
  2. ↑ [1] , accessed June 15, 2019.
  3. ↑ Change Your Shoes - For more sustainability . In: Schuheliebe.de . May 29, 2017 ( schuheliebe.de [accessed July 25, 2017]).