Fact and figures

The ijgd is an independent charitable organisation for international youth work, a recognised private agency for youth welfare and one of the largest and oldest workcamp organisations in Germany.

The ijgd was founded in 1949 in Hanover. The first workcamps were organised by students after the end of the second world war in order to help out with post-war reconstruction efforts, create international contacts in order to bring together former perceived enemies, and to seek out new democratic visions for a peaceful future.

• Today, the ijgd consists of 14 Regional Associations and a Federal Association.
• Around 250 people are employed at six main offices and twelve regional offices.
• The association has around 250 members whose interests are represented by a Federal Board and five Regional Boards.

As a charitable organisation, we organise short, medium and long term voluntary services in Germany and abroad. Volunteering can be undertaken in areas such as social work, ecology, democracy and monument preservation. We provide support to around 4000 young people doing long, medium and short-term voluntary work throughout Germany, Europe and around the world. We are helped out in this endeavour by about 500 people who work directly for us on a voluntary basis.

We work with people of all ages, although we focus primarily on young people aged 16 to 26. The various programmes available provide volunteers with opportunities to be creative, act with solidarity and to take on individual responsibility. This allows us to create spaces in which people have a chance to discover and explore their own potential and competencies.

The goals and concept of ijgd projects are based upon our eight working principles. These are: Ecological learning, acting voluntarily, self-organisation, social learning, intercultural learning, gender equality, anti-racism/anti-discrimination and civic education.

We work with a huge number of public and private institutions. We receive grants from ministries at both federal and state levels as well as from the EU. Our project partners are mostly charitable initiatives. We are part of the "Deutsche Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband" (German Parity Welfare Association).