The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is a non-profit making private educational institution committed to the concepts and basic values of Social Demo­cracy and the Labour Movement.

Friedrich Ebert

The Foundation (Stiftung is the German word for foundation) was founded in 1925 as the political legacy of the first democratically elected German President, Friedrich Ebert, after World War I. Coming from a humble background his personal experience led him to propose the establishment of a foundation with a twofold aim:

• furthering a democratic, pluralistic political culture by means of political education for all people from all classes of society;
• contributing to international understanding and co-operation wherever possible to avert any fresh outbreak of war and conflict.

The FES which was immediately banned by the Nazis in 1933 and not re-established until 1947 after World War II, continues today to pursue those aims and has developed extensive pro­grammes in each of the above areas. Head­quartered in Bonn, Germany, with a new confer­ence facility in Berlin, the Foundation's staff of approximately 580 maintains offices in 90 countries and is active in more than 100 countries.

The Foundation's current focus is to provide a forum for stakeholders in the political transition to promote public discussion on the opportunities and challenges posed by multi-party sys­tems. Another objective is to highlight issues that need to be promoted in order to facilitate a process of management of divergence of views. Furthermore it addresses the consolidation of consensus on fundamental national issues.

The Foundation's work can look back on a remarkable history of co-operation with Uganda which started three decades ago. The Kampala office is staffed by one representative from Germany and 10 local employees (2007).

A great part of the international work of FES contributes world­wide on the debate on globalisation and global government. Please find more information in that context on: Dialogue on Globalization.

Further information on ACP-EU relations is available on FES & ACP-EU – To­wards a demo­cratic and social partnership: what African experts think of the de­velopments in the ACP-EU negotiations in Africa, of regional integration and Africa's role in the multilateral system.