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The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb) is granting fellowships to students and young graduates, enabling them to take part in a five-week seminar to be held from August 11th to 29th, 2012 in Germany and in February/March 2013 in Senegal and Ghana.
By organising a five-week exchange programme which is implemented for the sixth time on the initiative of the former Federal President and under the patronage of the Federal President Christian Wulff the Federal Agency for Civic Education is aiming to help overcome the lack of knowledge that exists between African reality and German perception and, vice versa, between German reality and African perception. The personal, intercultural encounter between young and upcoming academics and the interdisciplinary exchange are aimed at promoting advanced professional training and at acquiring multipliers for a German-African future that is based on the spirit of partnership on eye-level.
The fellowship holders are invited to participate in an education programme that will both encompass talks with political decision-makers, personalities from civil society and industry, academics and journalists from both countries and also give participants the opportunity to take part in political and cultural events and excursions. The participants are to contribute towards implementing the programme by assisting in organising lectures and facilitating group discussions. They will also work on a common study focussing on an academic subject that will be prepared in Germany and will be written between September 2012 and April 2013.
The event is directed at students and young graduates from Germany and West Africa. Applicants should be between 21 and 28 years old and be studying or have a degree in political science, modern history, international relations, economics, business administration, African studies, cultural studies, media and communication studies or law.
The seminar will be delivered in English; the number of participants is limited to 24, twelve from West African countries and twelve from Germany. The Federal Agency for Civic Education will cover the costs. Furthermore, there will be an obligatory preparatory seminar for the German participants from 22th to 23th June 2012. For more detailed information about the Federal Agency for Civic Education, please visit the website: www.bpb.de or www.bpb.de/goafrica.
Students and graduates who are interested can apply to the Federal Agency for Civic Education by submitting an essay comprising a maximum of three A4 pages (approx. 6,000 characters) written in English. The essay must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae in tabular form, a letter of motivation comprising no more than one A4 page and a photograph (the following information must be provided: surname, first name, gender, date of birth, place of birth, profession, job/field of study, place of study, place of work and place of residence). Applicants must also issue a declaration stating that they wrote is not able to cover costs for obtaining visas of the German participants or for vaccinations. The acceptance of African participants to the programme only becomes final when the German Embassy in the participant's home country has issued the relevant visa. It is not possible to legally claim participation in the programme.
A further condition for receiving a grant is that applicants must be able to participate for theentire period. The students should be willing to participate in an intensive and compact programme schedule.
Application
Full applications must be emailed to the Federal Agency for Civic Education at goafrica_bpb.de by 15 March 2012.
You may choose any one of the following topics (1. or 2. or 3.) for your essay. All three questions below one main point must be answered in each case.
1. Political party funding in Ghana and Germany
Ghana reintroduced a multi-party system and the division of powers between the president and parliament, when a referendum of a new constitution entered into force in 1993. The Ghanaian parties have to bear all costs by themselves, as there is no public party funding. Article 21(1) of the Political Parties Act 2000, Act 574 regulates the financial reporting constitutionally. The political parties have to submit a statement of account to the Electoral Commission within the second term of the year. It has to include the sources of their funds, the dues paid by the party members, as well as the party's contributions, donations and properties. Only Ghanaian citizens and certain organizations are allowed to contribute and to donate in cash or kind. This form of party funding is to guarantee a transparent record of the parties' method of operation as well as to ensure their service as essential institutions of democracy.
Party funding in Germany is regulated by the Act on Political Parties, Article 21. In contrast to Ghana, political parties in Germany receive public funds. The share of the
