Social cohesion arises where people take responsibility – beyond professional roles. Dr. Joy Asongazoh Alemazung has been involved in voluntary work in social, ecclesiastical, and international contexts for many years. His engagement connects democracy, education, integration, and international responsibility.
Dr. Alemazung served for several years as a HeForShe Ambassador for UN Women Germany. In this role, he advocates for equal rights, equal opportunities, and a responsible role for men in gender equality policy. His engagement builds on his long-standing work on questions of governance, social cohesion, and participation.
A central focus of his voluntary engagement lies in education and integration work. Dr. Alemazung served as a lecturer and supervisor of international students at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen and led programmes to promote the integration of international students.
He was also involved in political education work, including as a lecturer for educational seminars for Bundeswehr officers on political conflicts, governance issues, and international contexts.
In addition to his education and integration policy engagement, Dr. Alemazung also served as a voluntary youth football coach – including at SV Werder Bremen. He sees working with children and young people as an important contribution to personal development, to conveying values such as team spirit, fairness, and discipline, and to strengthening social interaction.
For him, sport is a place of lived integration, where origin, language, or social differences fade into the background and shared engagement takes centre stage.
Dr. Alemazung has held numerous voluntary leadership and board positions, including as Chairman of the Board of the African Good Governance Network (AGGN) and as Chairman of Cameroonian student associations at the Universities of Kiel and Erlangen–Nürnberg. In these roles, he promoted dialogue, networking, and exchange between academia, politics, and civil society.
As a reviewer for international academic journals and as a speaker at international conferences in Europe and Africa, he brought together academic expertise and social responsibility.
His social engagement is closely connected to his Christian faith. Dr. Alemazung served, among other roles, as a member of parish and deanery councils, as a lector, and as a trained lay worship leader. He understands the church as a place of community, responsibility, and lived social cohesion.
Voluntary engagement is for Dr. Alemazung an expression of an attitude: to take responsibility, to serve the common good, and to accompany people in different areas of life – locally, nationally, and internationally.