SYL has supported education and students through its development cooperation for decades. It has also raised awareness of global issues in Finland. Development cooperation supports SYL’s core principles: equality, internationalism, and education. Active volunteers, for example through SYL’s Development Cooperation Advisory Board (KENKKU), and fundraising are also an integral part of SYL’s development cooperation efforts.
KENKKU
KENKKU consists of a group of volunteers who represent different student unions. The advisory board is in charge of managing SYL’s development cooperation projects together with the SYL board member in charge of development cooperation and the development cooperation coordinator. Members of KENKKU are elected for an academic year and the recruitment takes place in spring via JYY. If you are interested in applying, follow JYY’s communication channels such as the weekly Student News JYYTISET, JYY website and Facebook.
SYL’s current development cooperation project
SYL is supporting the education of disabled students in three publicly funded universities in Ethiopia. The project aims to provide disabled students with high-quality education on an accessible basis and on level terms with other university students.
The project supports the participation of disabled students in the universities in question, by establishing or reinforcing the institutions’ services for the disabled. The objective is for the partner universities to continue providing the services and assistive devices independently after the project. This has worked well in previous, similar projects. The project also aims to reduce gender inequality, by ensuring that both women and men participate in the education arranged through the project.
The project is in receipt of project funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Because the project assists disabled people, the Ministry’s funding covers 92.5% of its costs, the remaining 7.5% being covered by donations.
Read more about the project, KENKKU, and SYL’s development cooperation on SYL’s website.
Donations
You can support SYL’s development cooperation project by making a donation at the same time as paying JYY’s membership fee in OILI-system. Donating is completely voluntary.
Small-scale money collection information
Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä
Small-scale money collection number: RA/2025/363
Implementation period and area: 1.4.-31.5.2025, Finland (excluding Åland)
The primary use of the collected funds is to support our umbrella organization, the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL), in its project Empowering and Mainstreaming Students with Disabilities in Higher Education in Ethiopia (EMPOWER II). SYL supports higher education for students with disabilities in three Ethiopian universities in collaboration with a local disability organization.
The project’s goal is to provide students with disabilities with high-quality and accessible education, just like other university students. It promotes the inclusion of students with disabilities in partner universities by establishing or strengthening university disability services. The objective is that after the project ends, the universities will continue providing these services and acquiring assistive devices independently. The project also seeks to reduce gender inequality by ensuring that both men and women participate in the training sessions organized within the project.
The project is funded by a grant from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, covering 92.5% of the project costs, while the remaining 7.5% is covered through donations. With this small-scale fundraising campaign, the Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä supports SYL in covering its self-financing share.
The secondary use of the collected funds is to support the work of Nyyti ry. Funds collected for Nyyti will be used to promote and support student mental health and prevent mental health issues. Nyyti supports student well-being by providing mental health information, organizing guided peer support groups for students facing challenges, facilitating volunteer activities, and offering professional one-on-one support discussions.