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Communication and Transparency

One the one hand, continuous information on the status of the application processing at the National Fund and General Settlement Fund is of importance to the applicants. On the other hand, the progress of the application processing and the way in which the consequences of the National Socialist era are being dealt with on an institutional level is time and again the focus of public attention. The Board of Trustees and the Secretary General of both funds take these circumstances into account by means of a transparent and direct communication of the conduct of proceedings. The relevant channels of information were established at various levels and are directed, on the one hand, at the applicants and on the other hand at a national and international public. The Secretary General directs the public relations of the National Fund and the General Settlement Fund. She represents the public face of the funds and outlines their work in annual lecture tours and visits to the countries in which many of the applicants live. A separate communications department, which was established in December 2006, takes on the task of working directly with the applicants of the General Settlement Fund. On a daily basis, their telephone support provides information on organizational matters or forwards specific questions regarding the course of proceedings to the legal staff. Personal consultations are also available on request in the rooms of the General Settlement Fund. Direct consultation with and care of applicants had already been integrated into the work of the National Fund and laid an important foundation of trust for people who, in the course of their applications, also told their
stories of persecution. Within the framework of its reports to the Board of Trustees, the Secretary General regularly provides information on the progress of proceedings and organizational requirements. In doing so the comprehensive expert knowledge of the employees of the National Fund and the General Settlement
Fund in matters of victim recognition is often referred to. The General Secretariat of both funds is often in demand from the media as an information point within its own field and with respect to the entire system of dealing with the consequences of the National Socialist era. For this reason, a Coordination Department for Media Service and Observation was established in 2005 for both the National Fund and General Settlement Fund. On the joint website www.nationalfonds.org, the wider public are able to learn in detail about the history, statutory bases and the procedural details at the National Fund and the General Settlement Fund. The weekly progress of the application processing at the General Settlement Fund can be viewed on the internet. Since 2008, the public have been offered an insight into the projects supported by the National Fund by means of an online database in which all projects sponsored by the National Fund since 1996 are recorded.