Action5 Freiburg

About us

About us
Content
1. Who we are and what we do!
2. Basic concept, working principles and aims of Action Five
3. Working committee
Who we are and what we do!
Action Five Freiburg e.V. is a non-profit NGO supporting self-help projects in developing countries. Currently we are involved in projects in Tansania, Togo, Kenia and Argentina.
Originally all members donated about five percent of their monthly income – this marks the origin of the name ‘Action Five’. Subsequently they decided as a group on how and in which project to spend the aid.
While donations may be freely chosen today, the principle of common and shared decisions remains central: Twice a year each member may vote on project engagement. Membership consists of either donations on a regular basis or active work within the working committee. Project proposals for the next period are devised by active members and sent to all members.
Thus, all participants of Action Five may contribute to every step of project cooperation.
Since our work is voluntary and unsalaried, donations directly serve their purpose - supporting projects.
In Freiburg, Action Five was established in 1981 by university students and still is taken care of mainly by (generations of) students. By now, a growing number of non-student members helps with financial support. All donations are tax-deductible!
Basic concept, working principles and aims of Action Five
Basic Concept
Our activities aim at basic needs. Also, local commitment is a necessary component of every project. Therefore we do not initiate new projects but foster initiatives of local inhabitants. Our work in projects entails intensive personal exchange – this adds to a better knowledge about the progress in our projects. Being a small NGO, Action Five has its strength in filling spots that are left unnoticed or unaffected by the work of large organizations.
The Principles
Concerning the choice of projects, three fundamental principles form the basis of all decisions.
These are:
- Aid to self-help: The initiative should arise in the project region. In addition, personal responsibility of those concerned and their awareness of a cooperative project management should be fostered.

- Sustainability of the measure: We focus on measures that remain valuable for long time (material aid or educational measures). Ideally, our commitment serves as a starting point for profound changes, thus strengthening long term life quality. In this regard, project components should be self-supporting in the long run. Long term measures are of higher priority than immediate aid – this is due to comparatively high costs for a small NGO to perform quick and immediate measures.

- Personal partnerships: Only a personal, trustful cooperation can ensure an intensive and effective exchange between partners in our projects and the working committee.

Aims
- Establishing humane living conditions through non-material aid (education, strengthening civil rights and women’s rights, supporting self-determination and corporal integrity)
- Improving long term material living conditions (food, shelter, clothing, work, health)
- Reducing political, social and economic dependence (fair trade, promoting political emancipation)
- Awareness formation (informing the public in Germany about our projects and about global economic dependences)
- Cultural enrichment (cultural exchange, adding to communication between people)

Working Committee

The main task of the working committee is supervising projects – communicating with project partners, revising and evaluating project proposals a.o. . Also, we deal with theoretical issues of development policy, the situation in the countries of our projects and we plan activities in Freiburg to inform others about current problems. In the end, it’s a lot of fun!