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Franco-German Youth Office

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Franco-German Youth Office
OFAJ / DFJW
Founded1963
HeadquartersParis, France[1]
General Secretary
Anne Tallineau, Tobias Bütow
Budget€26.8 million[2] (2022)
Staff70 (full-time equivalents)[2]
Websitefgyo.org
OFAJ office in Berlin on the annual Fête de la Musique in Berlin

The Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO; French: Office franco-allemand pour la Jeunesse, OFAJ; German: Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk, DFJW) is an organisation to subsidize programs for children, adolescents and young adults. Its main goal is to intensify the Franco-German relationships through cultural exchanges for young people, with the mission of "strengthening the bonds that unite French and German youth, increasing their mutual understanding and bringing about, encouraging and carrying out meetings and exchanges".[3]

History

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The Youth Office was one of the first institutions created on the basis of the Élysée Treaty that was signed on January 22, 1963 in Paris.[4] The FGYO's first initiative was organized in the summer of 1963, bringing together a few dozen French and Germans on the historic fields of Verdun.[5]

The FGYO was originally headquartered in Rhöndorf near Bonn, then the West German capital. In December 2000, the last employees moved out from there.[6] It is now headquartered in Paris, with its main German office in Berlin and a branch office, which opened in 2014, in Saarbrücken.[1][7]

Since 1963 the organisation has financed projects for 9.5 million young Germans and French through participation in 382.000 exchange programs.[8] The Franco-German Youth Office has facilitated leadership exchanges for youth organizations, as well as vocational internships and camps, town partnership, work camps, individual and family exchanges, sporting events, educational and linguistic programs, apprenticeships, and more.[5] In 2022 it organised 5,921 events with about 122,000 participants.[9]

Funding

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The FGYO's funding has been increased in decisions made by the annual Franco-German Ministerial Council. It is considered to have contributed to ending the centuries of French–German enmity.[10] The organisation is responsible for administering the Franco-German Citizen Fund (German: Bürgerfonds, French: fonds citoyen).[11] On January 22, 2019, the two governments furthered strengthened its role by increasing its budget to almost EUR 30 million through the Treaty of Aachen.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Heger, Gerd (14 January 2014). "Deutsch-französisches Jugendwerk öffnet Saarbrücker Büro" (in German). Saarländischer Rundfunk. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Annual Report 2022" (PDF) (in French and German). Franco-German Youth Office. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b "The history of the Franco-German Youth Office | FGYO". www.fgyo.org. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  4. ^ Eberle, Michael (21 November 2019). "#BR24Zeitreise: Deutsch-französischer Jugendaustausch" (in German). Bayerischer Rundfunk. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b Jobs, Richard Ivan (2018). Backpack Ambassadors. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 89–91.
  6. ^ Hamann, Heike (17 December 2000). ""Der Blick auf den Drachenfels wird uns fehlen"". General-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  7. ^ "OFAJ – Inauguration de la nouvelle implantation de Sarrebruck de l'Office franco-allemand pour la jeunesse". lepetitjournal.com (in French). 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  8. ^ "60 years of active involvement and future-building". bundesregierung.de. Government of Germany. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Annual Report 2021" (PDF) (in French and German). Franco-German Youth Office. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  10. ^ Defrance, Corine; Herrmann, Tanja (December 2021). "Franco-German Civil Society: Object and Actor of Bilateral Relations. Balance and Perspectives after the Signing of the Treaty of Aachen". Notes de l'Ifri (in French and German). Institut français des relations internationales. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  11. ^ "The Franco-German Citizen Fund". diplomatie.gouv.fr. Government of France. April 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
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