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Letter from the Founder

Understanding and reconciliation were important to me from the very beginning. As a native of Poland I soon learnt to love and value Germany as my second home. My positive experience of this country aroused in me the desire to help Germany and Poland to develop a closer relationship with each other. After 10 years of voluntary work for Poland I decided that my country no longer needed help but was in the position to provide aid to others. It was time for a joint project.

The best way to get to know people is to work together with them for a good cause. In 1995 we developed a project which aimed to support the transformation process in the four countries on Poland’s eastern border. By chance, just after the millennium this project turned into an aid program for children. This initially triggered in Ukraine. During one of our seminars for eastern European journalists in Warsaw a young man from Kyiv told me about the street kids in his home town. He had grown up in this world. Two month later we went in Kyiv together to see these kids. The cruel fate of these children left me deeply moved. I will never forget what I saw there. I promised the children a house where they could live together. That was the birth of “Our Kids” in 2001.

Vision

To develop private initiative and civic competencies as essential underpinnings in building a true democratic society, engaging especially the young generation as future key players

Mission

To support civil society formation in post-communist countries within appropriate regulatory frameworks, to promote social and community values, and to create competencies for sustainable development

Lines of Work

Training courses for policy-makers, journalists, social and community activists related to the development of democratic structures and a thriving civil society
Promoting good practices for private civil society initiatives
Transfer of knowledge and information on contemporary social, ecological and political problem-solving by civil society organizations world-wide, which have proven to be innovative and effective
Preparing adequate country-specific regulations and guidelines for the organisation and management of civil-society organisations
Organising conferences and seminars with the participation of international partners, involving them in the building process of democracy in Eastern European countries
Giving priority to education and innovative training courses for young people as a main tool for the development of beneficial social and political structures in post-communist countries

Programs & Projects

Democracy Study Centre

Ukrainian Child Rights Network

Centre for Children in Need "Our Kids"

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