Development Cooperation

Development cooperation is an important part of TYY's international affairs. The development cooperation projects offer an opportunity for students to help people in developing countries to help themselves. Local NGO's are responsible for executing the projects. In addition to donations from students, the projects are supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Together with the student union membership fee you can pay an additional, voluntary fee to support TYY development cooperation projects. During the academic years 2010–2012, the projects are as follows:

TYY Mexico project: Supporting the sustainable development of Wixarika indigenous people in Mexico

By donating to the project you will support the unique lifestyle of Wixarika indigenous people as well as sustainable development and educational opportunities. The TYY project in Mexico aims to develop the community’s ability to manage their forest regions by sustainable methods in terms of the economy, community and environment and begin a training that will support these objectives at a secondary school to be established in the region. TYY’s cooperative partner is AJAGI, a Mexican NGO that promotes the rights of indigenous people. TYY receives support for this project from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The voluntary donation payable together with the Student Union membership fee is €3.

 More information on the project (only in Finnish)

JYY India Project: Empowerment of women and children in communities

Due to the drought that Rajasthan has had to face in recent years, women have had to go farther to find water and it has become more difficult to take care of daily hygiene. Illiteracy among women is quite common as many girls leave school early or don’t go to school at all. The Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä (JYY) and Bal Rashmi Society joint development cooperation project aims to empower women and children through various activities and to generate development of the Bijoliya village community. The activities include arranging summer camps to children, establishing women’s groups and providing microcredits for women to start small businesses. The goal is to increase people’s awareness in the village communities on these rights. To support the India project, the voluntary donation payable together with the Student Union membership fee is €3.50.

More information on the project (only in Finnish)

Finnish Refugee Council project in Uganda: Adult education for refugees

There is an abundance of refugees temporarily living in Uganda that come from its many neigbouring countries, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Finnish Refugee Council’s adult literacy project offers refugees basic education (reading, writing and numeracy) in addition to English language teaching, business education and education concerning civil and societal issues. The objective is to enforce a new life for the refugees, to reduce poverty and to support self-reliance. The voluntary donation payable together with the Student Union membership fee is €3.90.

You can support the TYY development cooperation projects by paying an amount set for one to three TYY development cooperation projects together with your membership fee, or by paying a sum of your choise to the collection account 800010-352428 (tell which project you want to support). All money donated in connection to the payment of the membership fees will go in full to the designated projects.

The National Police Board of Finland has permitted the Student Union of the University of Turku to collect donations to the projects mentioned above. Collection licence number 2020/2011/2544, valid 8.8.2011-21.5.2013 in Finland (except Åland). The collection to these projects is open until the end of academic year 2011-2012.