About our Organisation

For over 60 years people engage in working for the NGO ICJA. Our work is based on volunteer services. By empowering young (and older) Germans to go abroad and to work as volunteers in social, political and ecological projects, we simultaneously encourage people from all over the world to come to Germany to do the same over here.
We (at ICJA) are convinced that a year of volunteer work in a different part of the world is both a highly valuable and enriching personal experience. Participating in our programs means interacting with different cultures and their customs and traditions. Volunteering is one of the best ways to experience the cultural variety across the globe. In the course of a volunteering year, expect more than just your personality to evolve. Most of us people working for ICJA have already had the opportunity of volunteering in different parts of the world, and we find it an exciting, fascinating and attractive experience, one that you should opt for!

In the majority of our programs’ partner countries, the volunteers will be confronted with the reality of global inequality. Poverty is present in every country in the world, but it takes different forms and has different impacts. A spin-off from poverty and other social problems is that global problems manifest themselves on a local level. With our programs we not only promote respect and open-mindedness for other cultures and religions, we furthermore call on solidarity actions with the underprivileged part of humankind, most of whom (though not all) live in the southern hemisphere. We, as former program participants, host families and accommodating projects, have gained many valuable experiences over the past 60 years. Our aim is to promote volunteering services for the next 60 years…we would like to share our knowledge and expertise with you, future generations of volunteers!