German Info:Germany France and the Future of Europe

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Investment in the Future-
Franco-German Youth Office (DFJW or OFAJ)

Since its founding in 1963, the Franco-German Youth Office (DFJW or OFAJ) has supported , 6 million young people and sponsored 200,000 encounters in the name of intercultural partnership, learning and cooperation.

The Youth Office enables young people from both countries to meet, study and work together. It sponsors exchanges between youth organizations, athletic associations, educational institutions, trade unions and communities. The public relations work of the Office takes place in different areas, such as maintaining a close working relationship with the media (i.e. radio and television shows), the publication and distribution of audiovisual media (i.e. internet, CD roms, audio and video cassettes) as well as, on a local level, organizing regional activities and exhibitions.

There are a multitude of services provided by the Franco German Youth Office. In the areas of training, there is training for group leaders, group translators, teachers and teacher assistants. Administratively, the Office coordinates exchanges between schools, organizes internships and programs for young professionals and finds vacation jobs for artisans, unemployed, journalists and artists. For young people, the Office funds scholarships and coordinates group meetings on various topics (science, technology). In the area of culture, there are musical-cultural encounters and scholarships. As far as travel is concerned, there is the possibility of obtaining financial support from the Office. For sports, the Youth Office helps with the organization of athletic competitions and programs for athletes. To foster language education, the campaign "youth speaks European" was created. Furthermore, individual exchanges for students grade 8 to 11 are offered, the Voltaire program, motivational programs, student exchanges, bi-national language courses and scholarships for language classes were implemented. As far as town partnerships are concerned, the Office arranges vacation jobs and lists partnership committees between Germany and France. Seminars, study trips and internships for students are part of the program. Beyond German-French exchanges, the Office encourages interaction with people from the Middle and Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe and the European Union. The Office also establishes statistics in this area. The Franco-German Youth Office helps its partners with financial, educational and language questions related to the exchanges. It supports them with the conceptual preparation and the analysis of the encounters, it informs and advises.

In keeping with the spirit of Elysée, the Franco-German Youth Office is an integrated German-French institution, which means, that on all levels, the German and French officials work together in both countries. The budget of the Youth Office, is 20 million EUR per year, stems from a joint fund, supported in equal parts by the German and French government, as well as financing through public and private organizations. Each year 200,000 young people are supported and 7,000 encounters are given grants.