Aktion West-Ost e.V.

Aktion West-Ost e.V. is a youth association based in Germany that aims to promote international understanding based on Christian and European values. Aktion West-Ost is an umbrella organisation made up of four Catholic youth groups. Throughout a typical year, the organisation and its members carry out about 15 international youth exchange projects and educational seminars for young people from Germany and various countries in Central to Eastern Europe. In addition to that, there are also some projects, mostly educational, that are intended for only young people living in Germany. For most of our projects, the age range is between 16 and 26 but there are also annual international projects for children from the age of 8 years and up. Most of the projects are planned and carried out by young people themselves from Germany and/or other countries, working together as volunteers with the help of our coordinating office in Düsseldorf. For the past 6 years, we have mostly had a constellation of 2 part-time employees and 1 international volunteer working in the office. In the past few years, our main partnerships have been with organisations from Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine but we also have partners in Russia, Lithuania and Slovakia. The aim of our youth exchange and educational work is to foster a good understanding between young people from different regions in Europe. In this way, we would like to contribute to sustainable peace in Europe and to help the young generation grow together even more as one people of Europe. Aktion West-Ost’s background dates back more than 70 years: many of our active volunteers have grandparents that were displaced or had to flee at the end of World War II – but instead of retribution, they saw reconciliation and mutual understanding as the only way forward and for lasting peace in Europe in the future. This does not only encompass the current member states of the EU but rather Europe as a continent. Despite Aktion West-Ost’s origins in Catholic refugee youth groups, we and our projects are open to anyone to join us if they are between the ages of 8 and 30. We want to show and experience the diversity of modern Europe to and through our participants and active people. Aktion West-Ost is part of BDKJ (Federation of German Catholic Youth) and has its office in the ‘Jugendhaus Düsseldorf’ building, the headquarters of BDKJ. Aktion West-Ost is also a member of the ‘Committee of Catholic Associations in Central and Eastern Europe’ (AKVMOE) as well as the network ‘Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe’ (InMOE).