AJA - Associação do Jovem Aprendiz

(The Young Apprentice's Association) is a small but an award winning, independent, non-religious, non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1995 with its headquarters in Brasília, Brazil.

Our Projects

AJA's promotes actions in Brazil and Africa through South-to-South cooperation projects, on special, professional and environmental education, capacity building and HIV/Aids prevention for teachers and students, and fosters social development, human rights, job and income generation for the poor, especially for people with disabilities, youth and women.

Most of AJA's programs are promoted in partnership with other NGOs, as well as with the United Nations agencies, such as UNESCO and UNDP. With its far-reaching network, UNDP, for instance, can act as facilitator of the dialogue between government and promoter keys partnerships. We also participate and promote actions through NetAid.

The international volunteers program - IVP, is an idependent initiative. IVP keeps AJA functioning in the context of longer-term sustainability and its programs focused on working towards solutions and empowering local communities.

In 2002 because of its outstanding work, AJA was selected internationally by the World Bank as finalist among more than 2,600 worldwide projects presented at the Development Marketplace, Washington, DC.

AJA programs develop new social technologies, such as a job bank for disabled persons in the Internet, certified by the Fundação Banco do Brasil in 2001.

AJA was chosen as the best national experiment in professional education, honored with the Paulo Freire Prize in 1998, in the area of Technology and Communication, promoted by the Labor Ministry, the Industrial Social Service (SESI), and the Roberto Marinho Foundation.