Africa Contact

_{(You can read our website in English via Google Translate)}
 A Movement for Solidarity with Africa
Afrika Kontakt (Africa Contact) (AK) was founded in 1978 by a number of Danish political parties, trade unions and other organizations in order to unite the efforts against colonialism and suppression in Southern Africa. Following the liberation of Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, our work increasingly broadened in focus to include the fight against apartheid in South Africa and Namibia. For many years, AK worked for an economic and cultural boycott of the white apartheid regime in South Africa.

With the end of apartheid, our work became more focused on information and campaign work in Denmark, and towards the Danish public and decision makers. In addition to our information work in Denmark, we support democratic movements in the rest of Africa. We apply a rights-based approach and work with social and economic rights.

We are a member-based organization with over 500 individual members and many collective members (such as trade unions) that represent more than 1.5 million people. Our secretariat has 3 employees that are supported by the 75 volunteers, involved in our working groups on Aids, Land Rights, Fishing, Cape Flats (together with the National Students’ Operation, A Days Work), Debt, Trade/EPA, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and an Information and Campaign group. We currently have seven projects in southern Africa, and we are planning to launch more projects in the near future.

Our Vision:
• AK supports marginalized peoples’ social, economic and political rights for a new global development.
• AK is critical of decision-makers in Denmark, the EU, governmental bodies in Africa and international institutions, and we wish to contribute to changing the political power balance and the unequal access to resources.
• AK is characterized by a critical solidarity with people in the South who are working to change in their own living conditions.
• AK offers political and financial support to democratic forces in Africa in several ways, for example through project cooperation, thereby seeking to change the present distribution of resources and the political systems that are supporting it.
• AK sees voluntary effort and contribution as an important element in our work.

The Five Objectives of AK’s Project Work are to:
• strengthen the contact and cooperation with partners in Africa,
• strengthen the democratic movements in Africa, thereby creating a base for the marginalized to organize and empower themselves to make changes in their livelihoods,
• access knowledge that can be used for information work and lobbying in Denmark,
• strengthen the professional skills in AK as well as those of our partners, and
• create contacts in Denmark for the involvement in solidarity work with Africa.

In Denmark, we are part of Projektrådgivningen (the Project Advisor NGO Network), The 92-group (On Trade), AIDSnet, Fishery Network, and the Stop EPA EU-network.

AK is active in the public debate on development issues, using a communicational strategy to comment on and discuss important political announcements on development, as well as public meetings, café evenings and publications. By leveraging our network, we are constantly striving to strengthen our public presence, for example through cooperation with Operation Dagsværk (Operation Days Work – the National Students Support Campaign for the South). We also organize debates at schools, high schools and colleges.

With our many years of active involvement with the democratic development of Africa – in all its aspects – AK has built a strong foundation of knowledge and practical experience, both in Denmark and with partners, institutions and individuals in Africa.

You can read more about AK on the Danish part of the website by translating it into English with Google Translate.

Africa Contact
Wesselsgade 4 kld
DK2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
Phone: +45 35 35 92 32
E-mail: SAK@afrika.dk