The GLOBAL COOPERATION COUNCIL advocates genuine collaboration as a prerequisite of fair globalization in the firm belief that the emerging new world in the 21st century calls for departure from the entrenched patterns of thinking.

 

Instead of clinging on to outdated social, economic, financial and political perceptions and structures, there is a compelling need to create conditions for a just, truly democratic and secure world whose citizens are empowered to interact with each other and those at the helm of affairs in order to respond rapidly to changes creeping in at a quick pace.

 

This calls for fostering a culture of peace, which is a prerequisite for sustainable global security.

 

Precisely this is what the GLOBAL COOPERATION COUNCIL has been constantly endeavouring. Over the past 27 years, it has organised some 280 events exploring the realm of North-South and South-South relations and showing possible paths that lead to genuine cooperation and promote culture of peace.

 

The Council was founded under the name 'Nord-Süd-Forum' (North-South Forum) on February 25, 1983 in Bonn, the capital of the then Federal Republic of Germany, by a group of Germans engaged in North-South relations, including a former state secretary in the federal ministry of economic cooperation and development (BMZ) and journalists from countries of the South.

 

The new name was given early 1997, taking into account the political and economic transformation -- under way since the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War -- that continues to impact the social, cultural and political lives of peoples around the globe.

 

The Council is a registered non-governmental and not-for-profit organization. While serving as a focal point for genuine cooperation and culture of peace  as well as a platform for dialogue, it facilitates -- within the framework of HumAN Development Services -- HANDS - an exchange of ideas and practical experiences.

 

The Council's Global Affairs Media Academy organises jointly with Globalom Media  workshops and seminars for young journalists, budding diplomats and future policy-makers.

 

The GLOBAL COOPERATION COUNCIL also provides information on multifaceted aspects of international cooperation and assists in horizontal communication with a view to promoting collaboration and exchange of knowledge in and about a fast-changing and increasingly complex world.

 

For this purpose, the Council has joined the Globalom Media Information – Communication – Publishing Agency to set up IDN-In Depth News, a news analysis service on issues that impact the world. The Council and IDN are jointly producing Global Perspectives, a monthly magazine for international cooperation published in Berlin, Tokyo and Toronto. Another joint venture of the Council is Development Watch, an alliance for monitoring international cooperation.

 

Since April 2010, the GLOBAL COOPERATION COUNCIL serves as an umbrella organization for IPS-Inter Press Service Deutschland gGmbH, which provides a selection of news, features and backgrounders -- in German -- from the wire service of Inter Press Service global news agency.

 

The GLOBAL COOPERATION COUNCIL has also launched a website as part of a media project funded by Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist association based in Tokyo,  to raise awareness about the need for a nuclear free world.