AREDAs Homepage

Some theory on civil society and development aid

A snapshot of what AREDA is about, what we do, what we don't and why

How to contact us; the downloads are on this page too

AREDA is a non-profit association working on civil rights in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

AREDA works for a better understanding of how societies in Eastern and Western Europe function. We try to understand the local flavors of democracy starting from local values and priorities. Using a bottom up approach, we gather knowledge about what people in our target countries wish for the societies they live in. By promoting this knowledge in Switzerland and on the Web, we contribute to synchronize the concepts of democracy and civil rights throughout the continent.

Currently we are working in Georgia and Romania.

Where to look if you want...
...a quick overview (3min.)	online: FAQ; offline: download our leaflet from here.
...to learn more about our approach	online: Approach page; offline: download "Vision and goals" document from here.
...to contribute to one of our projects	visit our projects page, make your choice, then contact us.
...basic information on Georgia or Romania	contact us or visit one of the sites listed on the links page.
...information on concepts of civil society	visit our page on civil society.
...to join, contribute to or support AREDA	our contacts page is the best place to start.

AREDA works as a connector between people who are interested in civil rights, civil society and participative democracy.

In an early phase of our activity we tried to change something about how Swiss development cooperation dealt with civil society in Eastern Europe. We realized that the lack of interest came from the difficulty to understand the reality of Eastern European civil society by both the Swiss public and the main development cooperation actors. Sadly but understandably, they refused to support a movement which was different from anything anyone in Switzerland had ever experienced.

This lack of interest made our past efforts to offer a framework for support of civil society futile. If somebody doesn't want to buy a car, he doesn't care for your sophisticated information about the different car types. So we decided to keep ourselves well informed about Eastern Europe and in the same time unwrap our knowledge from the framework and submit it to public attention.

Currently we come together for regular exchanges, organize events (by ourselves or in cooperation with other Swiss NGOs) and publish our ideas and findings on this site.

AREDA is located near Zurich, Switzerland, has a "crew" of 4 and is registered in the local "Handelsregister".

Last update: 09.03.2008. Click here to view what is new since the previous version.

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