The Austrian Social Service (Österreichischer Sozialdienst) is part of the Austrian Service Abroad founded by Dr. Andreas Maislinger in 1998. It offers the possibility to substitute the compulsory military service in Austria with a 10-months service abroad and provides a platform for volunteering services. Legal Framework As part of the Austrian Service Abroad the Austrian Social Service is funded and supervised by the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs and subject to the federal law for the promotion of voluntary engagement (Bundesgesetz zur Förderung von freiwilligem Engagement.) Mission and structure The Austrian Social Service supports socially vulnerable groups and the social and economic development of the host country. Austrian Social Servants are deployed in various kinds of partner organizations in a large number of countries. The focus lies on the developing world. Assignments The Austrian Social Servants work in the fields of education, care, medical support, agriculture and economic development for street or homeless children, elderly, handicapped, ill, poor and / or marginalized people. Furthermore, also the field of environmental protection belongs to the Austrian Social Service, partnering with organizations engaged in projects for the protection and sustenance of the natural environment. Since 2018 the Austrian Service Abroad also partakes in the program Understanding Israel, sending young Austrians to do social service at child-care places and handicapped-care facilities in the state of Israel in cooperation with the Israeli Volunteer Association. Partners Argentina Buenos Aires - Center for homeless children and adolescents Belgium Brussels - European Disability Forum Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo - Phoenix Initiative Brasil Alagoinhas - Associacao Lar Sao Benedito Lauro de Freitas - Community Centre Christ Liberator Rio de Janeiro - Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) China Qiqihar - China SOS Children's Village Association Beijing, Qiqihar city, Helongjiang Province und Yantai City, Shandong Province Costa Rica La Gamba - Tropical Field Station La Gamba Puntarenas - Finca Sonador - Asociaicón de Cooperativas Europeas Longo Mai Puntarenas - Union de Amigos para la Protección del Ambiente (Unaproa) San Isidro - Asociación Vida Nueva Germany Marburg - Terra Tech England London - Royal London Society for the Blind Gabon Lambaréné - Medical Research Unit, Albert Schweitzer Hospital Guatemala Quetzaltenango - Instituto de Formacion e Investigacion Municipal, Santa Rosita - Casa Hogar Estudiantil ASOL India Auroville - Auroville Action Group (AVAG) Dharmshala - Nishtha, Nishtha - Rural Health, Education and Environment Centre Dharmshala - Tibetan Children's Village:*Dharmshala - Tibetan Welfare