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Austrian Social Service

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Austrian Social Service (Österreichischer Sozialdienst) is part of the Austrian Service Abroad founded by Dr. Andreas Maislinger in 1998. It offers the possibility to substitute the compulsory military service in Austria with a 10-months service abroad and provides a platform for volunteering services.

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As part of the Austrian Service Abroad the Austrian Social Service is funded and supervised by the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs and subject to the federal law for the promotion of voluntary engagement (Bundesgesetz zur Förderung von freiwilligem Engagement.)[1]

Mission and structure

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The Austrian Social Service supports socially vulnerable groups and the social and economic development of the host country. Austrian Social Servants are deployed in various kinds of partner organizations in a large number of countries. The focus lies on the developing world.

Assignments

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The Austrian Social Servants work in the fields of education, care, medical support, agriculture and economic development for street or homeless children, elderly, handicapped, ill, poor and / or marginalized people. Furthermore, also the field of environmental protection belongs to the Austrian Social Service, partnering with organizations engaged in projects for the protection and sustenance of the natural environment.

Since 2018 the Austrian Service Abroad also partakes in the program Understanding Israel, sending young Austrians to do social service at child-care places and handicapped-care facilities in the state of Israel in cooperation with the Israeli Volunteer Association.

Partners

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Argentina

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brasil

China

Costa Rica

Germany

England

Gabon

Guatemala

India

Israel

Kenya

  • Nairobi - Kenya Water for Health Organisation (KWAHO)

Nicaragua

Norway

  • Oslo - Jodisk Aldersbolig

Pakistan

Peru

Poland

Romania

Russia

Czech Republic

Uganda

United States

Belarus

  • Minsk - Belarusian Children's Hospice
  • Minsk - 'Dietski dom no. 6' - Kinderheim no.6
  • Minsk - Kindergarten for Children with Special Needs

References

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  1. ^ "Bundesgesetz zur Förderung von freiwilligem Engagement".
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