Code of Conduct
Dear DRJUG members,
We live in a dynamic environment. Things, which we could not even imagine 10 years ago, have become an integral part of our daily lives. However, despite all rapid changes in the external world, we at DRJUG have always been and should stay true and loyal to our core values and principles, which are placed at the heart of everything we do.
Since the very beginning, we have always been striving to establish a platform where anyone is empowered to express his or her views without being judged, but supported. For many years, our association has brought young people together to become ambassadors of future, to be a common voice of a new generation and to grow as leaders of today and tomorrow. Having these goals is impossible without being true to the key principles we all admire and put in front of every action we take. We are delighted to build bridges between our nations, we contribute to facilitate a dialogue between generations, and we truly believe that an ability to listen and to hear each other is the key to a common wealth, prosperity and progress. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that we have released our short, understandable and principle guided Code of Conduct of DRJUG. It is not intended to cover or list all hard scenarios you might be engaged with. These three key values and principles are fundamental to help everyone to be guided when things do not seem clear, to be a lighthouse when you face a dilemma, and to become an essential part of all our efforts:
Tolerance & Respect
Team Work
Transparency
This Code of Conduct is an important milestone in the history of our association. We are very pleased to welcome and support this initiative. Please read the Code carefully, take it as your own ethical compass and help us become the most trustful and progressive youth association. We thank you for your continued commitment!
Sincerely,
Chairs of the Board
Applicability
The Code is applicable to every DRJUG member and associate, every board member and the chairs, the advisory council and other organs and teams, which have been or may be established within the association as well as to every member of the organizing team of our events and everyone who is acting on our behalf or representing DRJUG. It is the personal responsibility of everyone to understand and comply with the Code. At DRJUG, we aim high, and the Code is also taken as an ethical guidance towards the relationships with our external partners and supporters. As the broader commitment, we also hope the Code will be considered by all our partners and sponsors, experts and guests at our projects because we truly believe it contains and symbolizes the core and the essence of everything we do.
Tolerance & Respect
Talented, committed and responsible people from diverse backgrounds are essential for us to fulfill our purpose. We all want to have our say regardless of the passports we hold and the enrollments we have. However, the world is not simple at all: political and economic situations may change, there might be polar opinions, sensitive topics, disagreements, and hot debates. Nevertheless, we expect that anyone within the association as well as whilst participating in our events will treat each other with tolerance and respect. We fully support content diversity and pluralism of opinions. We anticipate that everyone will exercise his or her highest feeling of integrity and honesty during the collaboration, avoid and stay resilient to any misinformation, falsification, or misuse of authority. We should remember that the dialogue is the key, but in order to maintain it, we should accept and listen to each other.
Team Work
To achieve our common goals and to complete tasks in the most effective way, we should base our performance on collaborative efforts of our teams. Any issue and any challenge can be overcome if we stay as one team. We encourage everyone to put the success of the association and its projects first and to value each other’s contributions and feedback. We embrace diverse perspectives to develop an inclusive environment where everyone can unleash their full potential. In a voluntary association like us, a mutual support and enthusiasm is the core to our common success and a healthy environment within the team. We also expect that the decisions, which are made, reflect the collaborative nature, undergo a quality check and the team spirit.
Transparency
The membership in our association is based on a voluntary basis, which means none of the members of the association, nor any board member receives any financial compensation for their activities at DRJUG. Therefore, our funds are fully established thank to the gratuitous contributions from our members (e.g. membership fees and donations) as well as thank to the sponsors and partners of our events. We consider any financial support as the highest level of trust in our organization, and hence we take the responsibility on the entrusted funds with the maximum care and attention. We are fully committed to transparently report on all our expenses and duly return all unused funds to a respective sponsor if required. Anyone who is given access to any property or funds of the association should ensure that it is properly used for the purpose of conducting DRJUG activities. Misappropriation of the organization's property or funds for personal use is strictly prohibited.
Compliance with Laws
We comply with all laws and regulations applicable to our activities regardless where our events take place and where our members and associates are located. As NGO, we are fully compliant with all regulations applicable to non-governmental and non-profit organizations as well as with the internal policies and guidelines of our sponsors and partners.
Independence
DRJUG is an independent association. Our activities and organizational structure are based on the democratic and parity grounds, which allow various parties to be represented and collaborate with us. We do not represent, nor transmit views or statements of any state, institution, organization, or individual. We do not express our own opinion, but primarily create a platform for a dialogue to exchange views and perpetrate a common progress. Although we may support side initiatives if they echo our own principles, we always apply caution before committing to anything, carrying in mind any potential impact on our independence.
Our activities are carried out thank to the grants, donations and sponsorships we receive from various organizations and institutions. However, we never accept any fund or sponsorship with any tangible consideration or any favor in return. Such requests should be rejected if they contradict our core values and principles.
Data Privacy
Since we may collect and process personal data to fulfil our activities, we provide a special care to the data privacy regulations (including but not limited to GDPR). We treat personal, sensitive and confidential information with the highest security, and except for cases required by law, on no occasion we are allowed to disclose or transfer any personal data, which is entrusted or given to us. At DRJUG, we shall provide adequate safeguards to protect this type of information.
Conflict of Interests
Everyone can experience a situation when his or her conduct can be interpreted and judged differently or even as unethical. Such cases can occur anytime and represent a conflict of interests. A conflict of interests is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that our judgement or actions regarding any primary interest of the association will be unduly influenced by our secondary personal interest. Primary interest refers to the association's goals or activity, for example, an independent selection of participants of our events, or responsible and transparent spend of the entrusted funds. Secondary interest includes personal benefit and is not limited to only financial gain but also such motives as the desire for professional advancement, or the wish to do favors for family and friends, or harm (e.g. revenge) in costs of the prime interest.
This can happen when we receive gifts and favors from our partners, or when we are in a position to misuse our authority for a personal gain. There is no exhaustive list of all situations, which may conclude a conflict of interests, and not every conflict is treated as unethical or illegal, but should become objectionable when it is believed to have greater weight than the primary interests of the association. We should avoid having and being involved in such situations and immediately disclose whenever a conflict of interests occurs.
Social Media
We recognize the increasingly important role that social media plays in the personal and professional lives. At DRJUG, we support a free information and data access as well as a free exchange of information via various channels, including social media. When using social media, we may sometimes be treated not only as an independent individual, but in a relation to the communities we represent and are associated with. Therefore, we would like to encourage the responsible use of personal social media. Everyone should be reminded that the personal social media use can impact DRJUG and its activities. We expect everyone to conduct themselves in accordance with this Code and our guiding principles and apply the best judgement when using personal social media. Nevertheless, DRJUG does not take any responsibility on the social media activities of any organization, institution, or individual who is acting independently (not on our behalf, nor as our representative) but can be treated as associated with DRJUG (e.g. partner organizations, experts).
We would like to help to use social media in a proper way. For example, do not misuse DRJUG accounts and apply them only for the organization's purposes. Be mindful when leaving comments or expressing any other sign of reaction on social media. Respect privacy of others and do not publically post information about them. Do not do anything online which would not be appropriate in life. Note the difference between speaking “about” and speaking “on behalf of” DRJUG. You should always keep your personal and DRJUG activities separate in social media unless you are authorized to speak and post on behalf of DRJUG.
Reporting
Anyone is free and encouraged to speak up. We consider any violation of the Code as a breach of our core principles, which cannot be tolerated and does not go along with our values. If you witness or suspect any violation of the Code and its principles please immediately inform any member of the board or the chairs, or send an email to vorstand@drjug.org.
Violation of the Code
Violation of the Code may lead to a disciplinary action, including termination of the membership at the association, withdrawal from any partnership agreement or relationship, or to any other similar consequence, which is adequate and fair in regard to the violation.
Review and Monitoring
This Code is publically disclosed and available. The monitoring of compliance with the Code is a responsibility of the chairs of the association. The chairs report compliance with the Code at the annual members meeting and are responsible to review the Code at the biennial frequency.
DRJUG e.V. CoC V. 1.0 as of August 30, 2020