Africa – 54 countries, 54 stories, 54 lessons to learn
There is a lot to learn from Africa and it is time to take development cooperation literally. AidReversed portraits innovative ideas from African countries that might be beneficial for the rest of the world. 54 portraits, one for each African country, are selected and published in a book.
Our charta:
1. AidReversed wants to give a positive view on developing countries.
While fund raising campaigns and the media often talk about hunger, poverty, AIDS and crime, we focus on positive developments in Africa and make them known. We believe that there is a lot to learn from Africa and if we ignore this potential we are missing out on an opportunity.
2. AidReversed wants to empower and encourage young Africans to be proactive.
We portrait examples of African role models - but there is an upcoming generation of Africans who can become change makers themselves. By promoting entrepreneurial spirit, we hope that within the next decade the answers to the question of what Europe can learn from Africa will diversify even further. Just like Europe is benefiting from exporting knowledge and ideas, this should also be the case for Africa.
3. AidReversed wants to promote cultural exchange and refine understanding for development issues.
With our book, we want to encourage young Europeans to familiarise themselves with Africa in its diversity. Aid often is an end in itself - we give and we feel good. But cooperative and informed approaches to development are much more efficient and can prevent disappointment and resignation in Africa as well as in Europe.
4. AidReversed wants to promote equality.
Sometimes obvious, sometimes concealed - colonial thinking and prejudices against Africa still exist. It is time to take development cooperation literally and to start learning from each other.
5. AidReversed opposes disrespectful media coverage.
When covering stories of African success, we pledge to do so with great respect. While the media and fund raising campaigns show starving naked black babies and online casinos thereby create stereotypes, we want to help to overcome those. Fund raising should be about discovering potential and real needs rather than exploiting stereotypes.