Südwind Association
The Südwind Association for Development Policy and Global Justice , based in Vienna, is a development non-governmental organization in Austria that advocates sustainable development, human rights and fair working conditions worldwide. The association has offices in Dornbirn, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz, Wiener Neustadt, Graz and Vienna. Südwind is financed through projects, membership fees and donations.
history
In 1979 the Austrian Information Service for Development Policy (ÖIE) was founded with the motto of pursuing development policy in one's own country. Church organizations, the Austrian Students' Union , the Europahaus Eisenstadt, youth organizations ( SJ & JVP ), as well as various development policy working groups participated in the company. At the end of the 1990s, the ÖIE association was renamed "Südwind Development Policy" and the "Südwind Agency" was founded as a non-profit company. In 2015 the non-profit Ges.mbH was dissolved, since then Südwind has been operating legally as an association that is more firmly anchored in civil society and corresponds to the understanding of an NGO . The concern to reduce the socio-economic gap between the global north and south through information, education and campaign work in Austria remained central.
The association conducts workshops for schools and creates educational materials focusing on global learning and "Global Citizenship Education" (the development of awareness for global citizenship). There are also campaigns for a fairer world. These included, for example, “Jute instead of plastic” (1979), “Hunger is not fate” (1980), “Voices for the rainforest” (1992) and the “ Clean Clothes Campaign ” (since 2001).
Fields of activity
The main fields of activity are in the area
- development education work or in global learning
- in the development and provision of media (books, teaching material, brochures, video material, and much more)
- in introducing development policy content and concerns into civil society processes
- in campaigns and public relations as well as in the preparation of studies on global topics
- in lobbying with decision-makers relevant to development and education policy for issues supported by Südwind
organization structure
The association is the founder of the Climate Alliance and partner of the Südwind book world as well as publisher of the Südwind magazine. Südwind works with international partner organizations to implement projects.
At the regional level, Südwind is represented by regional associations in Styria, Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Six of the seven regional offices host or maintain their own information center. There you can borrow teaching materials, non-fiction, videos / DVDs, slide series, games, books for children and young people and much more on development issues.
The association is represented on the board of the AG Global Responsibility, the Network Social Responsibility and WearFair & more. Südwind is a member of the WIDE network and is involved in the platforms Attac , ECA-Watch Austria, Oikocredit , Information Center for Journalism & Development Policy (ISJE), we are fed up with it! and baobab. Südwind has been the coordination point for the Clean Clothes Platform in Austria since 2001 .
The association finances its activities and offers largely from public funds on a project basis. The project funding comes from funds from the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADA), the Austrian Ministry of Education, the Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection and the European Union . In addition, donations enable part of Südwind's work. At regional and local level, Südwind's activities are also supported by the federal states and municipalities.
Südwind magazine
Südwind magazine has been reporting on topics related to international politics , culture and development since 1979 . The editorial team is independent. In its reporting, the magazine focuses on issues and regions that otherwise often only receive marginal attention. The editorial policy according to the editorial statute: "Informing the public about the social, political, economic and cultural reality in the countries of the so-called Third World as well as about development policy and international cooperation in the sense of a sustainable reduction of the gap between North and South." The current editor representatives are Martin Jäggle, Brigitte Pilz and Erhard Stackl. The Südwind magazine sees itself as an undogmatic information and discussion sheet for people who are committed to more justice between North and South or who want to find out more about international topics.
The magazine appears 10 times a year and has 52 pages. It contains reports, analyzes, picture stories, interviews from the countries of the global south and impulses for changes in the north.
Südwind book world
The first development bookstore was founded with the same name in 1984 on Kleeblattgasse in Vienna. The second part of today's name comes from the bookstore Buchwelt, which was also founded in 1984. A few years later the two businesses were merged and since then have been run under the name Südwind-Buchwelt.
Today, literature and world music are sold in Vienna, Schwarzspanierstrasse 15 and Mariahilferstrasse 8 as well as online. The founding idea of Südwind und Buchwelt was to give more people access to developmentally relevant literature. The book world deals with the systematic processing of literature relevant to development policy and aims to contribute to better understanding in the industrialized regions and the countries of the south. Your basic work is an orientation aid for libraries, schools and educational institutions when purchasing new books and media. Books, world music CDs as well as fair trade handicrafts and food are sold.
Despite having the same name, the Südwind Book World operates independently of the Südwind Verein. The association only holds shares in Südwind-Buchwelt.
Consultative status with the United Nations
Since 2009 the association has had consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations ( ECOSOC ). The consultative status allows Südwind to participate in UN conferences in Vienna, Geneva and New York, to organize parallel events and to submit statements and written submissions. Südwind focuses on the meetings of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
activism
The purpose of the association is primarily to mobilize for global justice. Activists take up topics of the association, but also dedicate themselves independently to global social issues, get involved in public discourses and provide information on current developments. They plan and organize events and street activities, exchange ideas at regional round tables on current topics and campaigns and organize Austria-wide networking meetings such as the Südwind Academy.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ History. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Südwind mission statement ( memento of the original from October 24, 2007 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.
- ↑ positions. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Projects. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Projects. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Campaigns. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Organization. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Information desks. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Overview. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ About the Südwind magazine. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Südwind Book World - History. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Südwind Book World - Our goal. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Südwind-Buchwelt - The owners of Südwind-Buchwelt. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Overview. Retrieved August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Topics . In: Südwind activists . February 2, 2016 ( suedwindaktivistinnen.org [accessed September 4, 2017]).
- ↑ Downloads . In: Südwind activists . August 28, 2015 ( suedwindaktivistinnen.org [accessed August 18, 2017]).
- ↑ Learn more. Retrieved September 4, 2017 .
