The GEPA is Europe's largest

alternative trading organization An alternative trading organization (ATO) is usually a non-governmental organization (NGO) or mission-driven business aligned with the Fair trade movement, aiming "to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in developing regions of the world by e ...

. The abbreviation ''GEPA³'' stands for "Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Partnerschaft mit der Dritten Welt mbH“, literally meaning "Society for the Promotion of Partnership with the

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

Mission

The main goal of GEPA³ is to improve the living and working conditions of people in the South, following the spirit of the UN

Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...

for economic, social and ecological sustainability.

Partners of GEPA

* Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) ''(Evangelical Development Service)'', * Bischöfliches Hilfswerk Misereor der Katholischen Kirche ''(Misereor Episcopal Welfare Organisation of the Catholic Church)'', * Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Evangelischen Jugend (aej) ''(Consortium of the Evangelical Youth)'', *

Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend The Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend (BDKJ) is the umbrella of Catholic youth organizations in Germany. Member organizations * Aktion West-Ost * Bund der St. Sebastianus Schützenjugend (BdSJ) * Christliche Arbeiterjugend (CAJ) * DJK-Sp ...

(BDKJ) ''(Federation of the German Catholic Youth)'', * Päpstliches Missionswerk der Kinder in Deutschland e.V. (PMK) ''Papal Missionary work of Children in Germany (since 25 October 2004)''.

Sale Structure

15 regional fair trade centres in the Federal Republic of Germany supply approximately 800 shops worldwide and roughly 6,000 action groups with fairly traded groceries and handcrafted products. Numerous supermarkets and food retailers also sell gepa products. Business canteens, student unions, conference houses etc. are provided by gepa on a wholesaler basis. The gepa website also has an online shop which generates sales. The "Regionalen Fair Handelszentren" or RFZ (Regional Commercial Fairs) are partly owned by gepa with the other part belonging to independent sponsors. *RFZs sponsored by GEPA themselves: :*West (

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

) :*Central (

Alzenau Alzenau (; until 31 December 2006 officially ''Alzenau i.UFr.'') is a town in the north of the Aschaffenburg (district), Aschaffenburg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. Until 1 July 1972 ...

) :*South (

Leonberg Leonberg (; swg, Leaberg) is a town in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg about to the west of Stuttgart, the state capital. About 45,000 people live in Leonberg, making it the third-largest borough in the rural district (''Landkr ...

) :*Fair Trade Centre (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) *RFZs sponsored independently: :*Saarland (Saarbrücken) :*North (Hamburg) :*Bavaria (Haimhausen/Amperpettenbach) :*Saxony (Dresden) :*Aachen :*Bad Abbach :*Bonn :*Cadolzburg :*Münster :*Munich :*Northeim

Membership

GEPA is a

FLO International Fairtrade International, or Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International e.V. is a product-oriented multistakeholder group aimed at promoting the lives of farmers and workers through trade. Fairtrade's work is guided by a global strategy fo ...

registered Fairtrade licensee and importer. The organization is also a licensee of Naturland Zeichen GmbH and a member of the

European Fair Trade Association The European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) is a Dutch association established informally in 1987. It gained formal status in 1990. It regroups 11 fair trade importers in 9 European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sp ...

(EFTA), the

World Fair Trade Organization The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), is a global association of 401 organizations who are committed to improving the livelihoods of economically marginalised producers. WFTO has members in 76 countries. Members are primarily fair trade enterpr ...

(WFTO) and the Forums Fairer Handel.

Campaigns

* As a member in the Forum Fairer Handel, taking part in the Fairen Woche ("Fair Week") organisation. * Together with the Weltladen-Dachverband, leading a campaign for the development of activities ("Professionalisation") of Weltladen until 2006.

Periodical Publications

* Info Dienst * Info Service * Pressedienst (Press Service)

External links

*http://www.gepa.de Homepage of GEPA³ (German)
http://www.gepa.de
Homepage of GEPA³ (English) *http://www.eed.de Homepage of the Evangelischen Entwicklungsdienstes (EED) *http://www.misereor.de Homepage of the Hilfswerkes Misereor *http://www.bdkj.de Homepage of the

*http://www.evangelische-jugend.de Homepage of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Evangelischen Jugend *http://www.fairewoche.de
fairsprochen.org - das FAIRE ForumDie Krise der Kaffeewirtschaft (Teil II): Wege aus der globalen Preiskrise
(The crisis of the coffee economy (Part II): Ways out of the global price crisis). *http://www.interrupcionfairtrade.net {{Authority control Alternative trading organizations Fair trade brands Organizations established in 1975 Wuppertal