The Südwind Association is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

focusing on

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and campaign work in the

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...

field. The organisation has been active since 1997.

History

In 1979, the association Austrian Information Service for International Development Policy (Österreichischer Informationsdienst für Entwicklungspolitik; ÖIE) was founded with the conviction to promote the idea of development policy in Austria. Church organizations, the

Austrian Students' Association The Austrian Students' Union by statutory body (, ÖH) is the general students' representative body in Austria and serves as the students' government by federal law. The ÖH is a member of the European Students' Union. Membership in the ÖH is co ...

, the Europahaus Eisenstadt, youth organizations (SJ & JVP) and an array of development policy focused research groups united to tackle this endeavour. Toward the end of the 1990s the ÖIE was renamed to “Südwind Entwicklungspolitik” and the “Südwind Agency” was founded as non-profit ltd. The non-profit ltd. was dissolved in 2015, from that point on Südwind has been legally registered as an association. Südwind's main objective is to reduce the

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

imbalance between Global North and

Global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...

. Their approach is to offer information and education in Austria, to raise awareness for global issues. Providing and producing workshops for schools, teaching material that focuses on Global Learning and

Global Citizenship Education Global citizenship education (GCED) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are ' glob ...

and interactive exhibitions, has been at the core of Südwind's efforts for over 35 years. Organizing campaigns for a more just world, for example “Jute statt Plastik” (1979; aimed at making people replace plastic bags with jute bags), “Hunger ist kein Schicksal” (1980; hunger is not a destiny), “Stimmen für den Regenwald” (1992; voices for the rainforest) and the “

Clean Clothes Campaign The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is the garment industry's largest alliance of labour unions and non-governmental organizations. The civil society campaign focuses on the improvement of working conditions in the garment and sportswear industries ...

” (since 2001) are an essential part of Südwind's activity.

Organizational structure

The Südwind association is the founder of Klimabündnis and a

stakeholder Stakeholder may refer to: *Stakeholder (corporate), a group, corporate, organization, member, or system that affects or can be affected by an organization's actions *Project stakeholder, a person, group, or organization with an interest in a proje ...

o
Südwind-Buchwelt
and the publisher o
Südwind-Magazine
The association coordinates many of its projects in cooperation with various international partner organizations. Südwind is represented on the board of the AG Globale Verantwortung, the network Soziale Verantortung (NESOVE) and WearFair +mehr. It is also member of the WIDE-Network and is engaged in the platforms ECA-Watch Austria,

Oikocredit Oikocredit (in full Oikocredit, Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A.) is a cooperative society that offers loans or investment capital for microfinance institutions, cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises in developing coun ...

, the information agency for journalists & development policy (ISJE), “Wir haben es satt!” and Baobab. Südwind has also acted as coordination body for the

in Austria. On a regional level Südwind acts through regional associations located in Styria, Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Tirol and Vorarlberg, of which six host a so-called Infothek. Infotheks supply the public with teaching materials, nonfiction, videos/DVDs, slide series, games, children's and youth literature etc. that revolve around the topic of international development policy. Südwind's activities are mainly financed by projects. Projects are mostly funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Austrian ministry of education, the ministry of labour, social affairs and consumer protection as well as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Additionally,

donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

s enable part of Südwind's work.

Municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and federal provinces financially support some activities on a regional level.

Consultative Status in the United Nations Organization

Since 2009, Südwind has been holding a

consultative status The consultative status is a phrase that has been in use since the establishment of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations (Non-governmental organisation, NGOs) in Consultative Status with ...

in the Economic- and Social Council of the United Nations (

ECOSOC The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

). The status allows Südwind to organize parallel events, take part in UN conferences in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and to utter statements and written inputs. Here, Südwind's main focus lies on partaking in the United Nations Human Rights Council's (

UNHRC The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The ...

) meetings in Geneva.

Südwind-Magazin

The ''Südwind-Magazin'' has been reporting on topics like

international politics International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

, culture and international development policy for over 35 years. The

editors Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

are independent. The magazine aims to report on issues and regions that are underrepresented by the media. The editorial charter determines the magazine's mission to inform the public about social, political, economic and cultural realities in so called third-world countries, about development policies and

international cooperation In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Multilateralism is based on the principles of inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, and aims to foster a more peaceful, prosperous, an ...

, aiming to bridge the gap between north and south. The current representatives of the publisher are Martin Jäggle, Brigitte Pilz and Erhard Stackl. The ''Südwind-Magazin'' defines itself as an undogmatic information and discussion resource for people who strive for more justice between the Global North and the Global South and want to acquire more knowledge about international topics. The magazine appears 10 times annually and has 52 pages. It contains reports, comic-strips, analyses and interviews about topics surrounding the Global South and propositions for change in the Global North.

Südwind-Buchwelt

In 1984, the first bookstore that focused on development policy was founded in Vienna and named Südwind. The second part of the name is taken from the bookstore “Buchwelt” that merged with the Südwind bookstore a couple of years later. Today a large repertoire of respective literature, world music CDs and

fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement of fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa ...

handicraft and foods are sold in shops in the 9th and in the 7th district of Vienna and online. The founding idea of Südwind-Buchwelt was to offer better access to literature relevant to developmental policy. The bookstore is constantly engaged in synthesizing respective literature for common use, and aspires to improve industrial regions’ understanding of societal, ecological and economic processes in the Global South. Südwind-Buchwelt's work supplies an important fundament for numerous libraries, schools and other educational facilities by offering them useful guidelines for their choice in educational material. Südwind-Buchwelt operates independently from the Südwind association; the association is merely a stakeholder of Südwind-Buchwelt.

Activism

Südwind-

Activists Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

’ main objective is to mobilize and raise awareness for

global justice Global justice is an issue in political philosophy arising from the concern about unfairness. It is sometimes understood as a form of internationalism. Global justice and international justice may be distinguished in that the latter is concern ...

. They focus on topics that are relevant to Südwind, but the activists also independently select global and societal issues they deem important. Their members take part in

public discourse The public sphere () is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion, influence political action. A "Public" is "of or concerning the people as a whole." ...

, organize events and public happenings to inform society about current developments, hold discussions about current topics and campaigns, and organize meetings throughout Austria, like for example th
Südwind-Academy