Overview
You are working for an organization with social, ecological or cultural objectives? You are looking for young people dedicated to fair and sustainable development? Young people who want to share their experiences and views and support your organization in a concrete way? Each year, the ASA-Program enables 240 young people from Europe to take part in a learning and qualification program dedicated to development education.
The ASA-Program is part of InWEnt gGmbH and is mostly financed by the German Ministry of Development and Economic Cooperation (BMZ). It is a politically independent and non-profit organization.
Each year, the ASA-Program enables 240 young people from Europe to take part in a learning and qualification program dedicated to development education. Prior to and after their three-month internship abroad, the participants attend several seminars in Europe where they learn about global interdependencies, diversity and international development. During the seminars they develop and try out new skills and new methods and also get prepared for their internship abroad.
Why should you become a partner of the ASA-Program by hosting ASA participants?
As a partner of the ASA-Program you profit from committed students and young professionals from Europe who support your team and your organization as interns. While they bring in their know-how and ideas, they are also eager to learn from you.
After their internship, the participants get involved in Europe as multipliers in Global Education. They share their understanding of global interdependencies and simultaneously lobby for sustainable development. As a partner organization of an ASA project, you can set off important impulses for the future involvement of the participants.
What are the internships in Africa, Asia, Latin America and South-East Europe about?
Two to three European participants take part in each project as three-month interns. They contribute to the projects and to the objectives of the partner organizations. They conduct surveys and analyzes, organize training sessions and workshops or get involved in public relations.
The goal of the projects is
- to give the participants the opportunity to better understand global interdependencies and development policy issues
- to acquire organizational and practical skills in an international context and
- simultaneously, to support punctually the Southern partner organizations with a qualified collaboration
Some examples of ASA projects:
- Environmental education in Mexico
- Theatre production for democracy in Georgia
- Civil peace-keeping in the Philippines
- Organizing football activities for fairness, tolerance and equal opportunities in Kenya
Who are the ASA participants?
Students of any field of study and young employees who have completed a non-academic professional training and who are 21 to 30 years old can apply for the ASA-Program. When they apply, they are no development experts, but they are socially committed and want to get involved in fair and sustainable development.
The four different sub-programs of the ASA-Program
The ASA-Program is a very diverse program addressing different target groups and fields of activities. The ASA-Program offers several subprograms:
Basis program: teams of two or three participants from Germany or Switzerland spend their three-month internship in Africa, Asia, Latin America and South-East Europe between July and December. The topics of the internships in the South are very diverse.
South-North program: mutual exchange projects where two members of an organization from the South work on one project together with two ASA participants and a partner organization from
Germany. They spend three months in Germany (between April and June) and three months with the organization in the South (between July and December). The South and the North organizations need to develop and submit the project proposal together and to fundraise for the project.
GLEN (Global Education Network of Young Europeans): international teams of two or three European participants take part in their three-month internship between July and October in Africa, Asia and South-East Europe. Therefore, the experience and the exchange have an impact in several European countries.
The "ASApreneurs - Shaping a Sustainable World" Program wants to integrate sustainable thinking in companies. Young Europeans first do a three-month internship with a company in Germany. Afterwards they spend three more months with a partner organization in the South. During their time with the ASA-Program they work on a topic related to sustainability. An existing cooperation between the organizations in the South and in the North is required.
For more information concerning a project proposal, click here.
