§ 1 Name, registered office, and fiscal year

(1) The association bears the name “PROBONO School Partnerships for One World.”

(2) The association has its registered office in Frankfurt am Main.

(3) The association is to be entered in the register of associations and bears the suffix “e.V.” (registered association).

(4) The fiscal year of the association is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose 

(1) The objective of the association is to promote the following charitable purposes within the meaning of § 52 (2) of the German Tax Code (AO):

• Promotion of youth welfare (No. 4)
• Promotion of education, public and vocational training, including student assistance (No. 7)
• Promotion of international understanding, tolerance in all areas of culture and the idea of international understanding (No. 13)
• Promotion of development cooperation (No. 15) and
• Promotion of charitable purposes within the meaning of § 53 sentence 1 No. 2 AO.

The association has set itself the goal of

1. initiating, supporting, and promoting school partnerships between schools in Germany and schools in countries of the Global South. The aim is to promote social values and global learning among children and young people in the North and South, to motivate them to become socially engaged, to promote their social and intercultural skills, and to contribute to international understanding by encouraging dialogue between children and young people in Germany and children and young people in the Global South.
2. to promote the social, economic, and health situation of people in the Global South through development cooperation projects, in particular to promote schools and educational institutions and to support individual disadvantaged and needy students in the South with the aim of improving their living conditions in the long term.

(2) The purpose of the statutes is realized in particular through

1. Promoting high-quality school and vocational training
2. Supporting educational and training institutions and social organizations, including the promotion of education and training for individuals
3. Supporting the physical, mental, and social development of children and young people, especially those in need of economic assistance, by awarding scholarships (within the meaning of § 53 AO)
4. Promotion of children's rights, protection of children from physical, verbal, and emotional violence,
5. project work in the spirit of helping people to help themselves, involving the families of supported children and their environment, including village communities, regardless of religion, gender, nationality, or ethnicity.
6. Promoting international understanding, i.e., exchange between young people from different cultures by
• supporting dialogue between school partners, both in terms of content and through the expansion and provision of digital technologies to facilitate communication between students at partner schools
• financial support for intercultural exchange trips (not of a tourist nature), which may only serve tax-privileged purposes
• support for foreign visitors in Germany
7. financing and organizing workshops at schools in Germany and in countries of the Global South for teachers and students to further their education and deepen their understanding of development-related, global, and intercultural issues
8. Establishing a network among various school partnerships for the purpose of exchanging experiences
9. Educational and public relations work in Germany with the aim of breaking down prejudices against countries in the Global South, raising awareness of the situation in these countries, and sensitizing people to issues of global distributive justice.

(3) The association solicits donations and subsidies for the realization of its purposes. The association may have its tasks, in particular the implementation, supervision, and control of projects on site, carried out by other organizations. In particular, it cooperates with its Tanzanian non-profit partner organization PROBONO School Partnerships for One World and other non-profit foreign entities in the Global South for the conceptual and material promotion and maintenance of the aforementioned purposes. (§ 58 No. 1 AO). The association may use an auxiliary person within the meaning of § 57 (1) sentence 2 AO to fulfill its tasks.

(4) The association pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Tax Code and charitable purposes within the meaning of § 53 sentence 1 No. 2 AO.

(5) The association acts selflessly; it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.

§ 3 Membership

(1) Any natural person of legal age may become a member.

(2) Admission to the association must be applied for in writing. The executive committee shall decide on the application for admission by a simple majority of votes.

(3) Membership shall end

1. upon death
2. upon resignation
3. upon expulsion.

(4) Resignation may only be declared in writing to the Executive Board at the end of the financial year with six weeks' notice.

(5) The executive committee is entitled to expel individual members from the association by a simple majority vote for behavior that is detrimental to the association.

(6) Upon termination of membership, all claims arising from the membership relationship shall expire, whereby the association's claim to outstanding membership fees shall remain unaffected. A refund of membership fees, contributions in kind, or donations is excluded.

§ 4 Membership fee

(1) The amount of the annual membership fee and its due date shall be determined by the general meeting.

(2) In the case of donations and contributions subject to conditions, the organs of the association are bound by these conditions; the executive committee is responsible for their fulfillment.

§ 5 Organs of the association

The organs of the association are the executive committee and the general meeting.

§ 6 The Executive Board

(1) The Executive Board consists of

1. the chairperson
2. the deputy chairperson
3. the treasurer

(2) The association is represented in and out of court by a member of the Executive Board.

(3) The Executive Board is responsible for managing the association, preparing and conducting general meetings, implementing the resolutions of the general meeting, administering the association's assets, and managing the association's day-to-day business.

(4) The Executive Board decides independently on promotional measures.

(5) The Executive Board is elected at the general meeting for a term of two years. However, it remains in office until a new Executive Board is elected. The Executive Board may be re-elected.

(6) The Executive Board passes its resolutions at Executive Board meetings, which are convened by the Chair and, if he/she is unable to do so, by the Deputy Chair as required, but at least twice per financial year.

(7) The Executive Board has a quorum if at least two members of the Executive Board are present. All resolutions of the Executive Board shall be recorded in writing and signed by the respective chair of the meeting and the secretary.

(8) The Executive Board shall pass resolutions by a simple majority of the votes cast. In the event of a tie, the chairperson shall have the casting vote, or, in his or her absence, the deputy chairperson.

(9) If a member of the Executive Board resigns, the remaining members of the Executive Board shall have the right to appoint a replacement member until the next General Meeting.

§ 7 The General Meeting

(1) The General Meeting has the following tasks in particular:

1. The election of the Executive Board
2. The election of two cash auditors, who may not be members of the Executive Board. The cash auditors have the right to inspect the association's cash and accounts at any time, but at least once a year. They must report to the General Meeting on the audit of the entire bookkeeping and cash management.
3. Receiving the annual report and cash report of the Executive Board, the audit report of the cash auditors, and granting discharge
4. Making amendments to the Articles of Association
5. Passing resolutions on the annual membership fee
6. Passing resolutions on the dissolution of the association.

(2) All members shall be invited to the regular general meeting once a year by the executive committee in writing, with two weeks' notice and notification of the agenda. The chairperson or deputy chairperson shall chair the general meeting. Minutes shall be taken of each general meeting and its resolutions, which shall be signed by the chairperson and the secretary.

(3) The executive committee may convene an extraordinary general meeting at any time. An extraordinary general meeting must be convened if one quarter of the members submit a written request to the executive committee stating the purpose and reasons. Paragraph (2) shall apply accordingly to the procedure.

(4) Every general meeting shall constitute a quorum regardless of the number of members present. Resolutions and elections shall be decided by open vote. A secret ballot shall be required if requested by at least one member. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of votes, unless otherwise specified in the Articles of Association. In the event of a tie, the motion in question shall be deemed rejected.

(5) Resolutions on amendments to the Articles of Association require a two-thirds majority of the members present and must comply with applicable laws in order not to jeopardize the association's recognition as a non-profit and charitable organization. A three-quarters majority of the votes cast by members is required to dissolve the association.

§ 8 Funds of the association and their use

(1) The funds of the association consist of

1. Membership fees
2. Voluntary donations
3. Other income serving the purpose of the association
4. Income from the association's assets

(2) The funds of the association may only be used for purposes in accordance with the statutes. Members shall not receive any payments from these funds. No one may benefit from expenditures that are not related to the purpose of the association or from disproportionately high remuneration.

§ 9 Dissolution of the association

(1) If the general meeting decides to dissolve the association or if the dissolution is ordered by an authority, the organs shall continue their work until the dissolution has been carried out.

(2) Upon dissolution of the association or discontinuation of its tax-privileged purpose, the association's assets shall fall to the German UNESCO Commission e.V., Martin-Luther-Allee 42, 53175 Bonn. It shall use the accrued assets directly and exclusively for charitable purposes.

§ 10 Severability clause

Should individual provisions of these Articles of Association be wholly or partially invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a provision that comes closest to it in terms of purpose and content.

Frankfurt am Main, May 14, 2004

Last amendment, adopted by the general meeting: June 24, 2025