FNST

From March 6^th – 8^th 2012, FNF’s MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa) based project directors as well as representatives from head-office in Germany and the EU-Liaison office in Brussels convened in Amman for the foundation’s regional office conference. The three days meeting, consisting of intensive discussions on the foundation’s strategies in the region, was held against the background of striking political, social and economic developments unfolding in several countries of the region.

But it wasn’t all closed door meetings: A dinner reception hosted by FNF’s project director in Jordan, Mr. Ralf Erbel, provided a welcome opportunity to meet with some of the foundation’s stakeholders and partners in Jordan.

Participants hailed from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia and Egypt, with varying levels of skill and expertise. They were allowed to share experiences and work on individual and group projects throughout the course of the workshop.

“The internet will be a transformative force in the years to come. The workshop was motivated by the need for activists in the region to work more closely together, and to think strategically about their role in the exciting changes taking place around us”, said FNF’s Nareg Aslanian, himself a social media enthusiast and the foundation’s project team member in charge of social media projects in the Mashrek.

“From what I’ve seen and learned here, I can tell you that I will start my own blog tomorrow!” said Lebanese journalism student Yara Al-Asmar.

While the foundation has been organizing workshops and conferences around this topic for several years, the latest workshop in Beirut marks the beginning of a more comprehensive FNF-supported program to develop internet activism in the Mashrek region.

“The workshop represents a huge step forward for FNF’s digital activism efforts in the Middle East. Not only the participants, but also we have learned a lot from this workshop. As a foundation, we look forward to build on this experience and on supporting this network of digital activists in the future,” said Ralf Erbel, FNF Resident Representative in Jordan and for Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

A minute’s silence in memory of the victims that have fallen during the “Arab Spring”: This gesture, which inaugurated the regional strategy workshop for member organisations of the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL), arose from a sentiment marked by anger – about the bloody suppression of protest movements in many countries – as well as determination, to make use of this historical opportunity and realize the shaping of free and democratic societies.

Arab Bloggers Meet and Strategize at Cairo Workshop

Bloggers from all parts of the Arab world came together in Cairo from May 20 to 22, 2011 for a workshop entitled „Blogging for Freedom in the Arab world“. Co-sponsored by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) and the Rights and Democracy organization of Canada, the three-day event aimed at creating a network of Arab citizen journalists and providing spaces for exchanges of experiences and opinion. In Cairo, just a few steps away from Tahrir Square, the bloggers also engaged in strategic discussions on how best they could support the democratic revolutions and uprisings with their personal online media.

The most important liberal international organizations assembled in Cairo from May 5 to 7, 2011 in order to deliver a clear message: the international liberal movement supports the popular uprisings and revolutions in the Arab world. Present at the three-day conference were the leaders of Liberal International, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament, the European Liberal Democratic Reform Party (ELDR), the world federation of liberal youth IFLRY, the African Liberal Network (ALN) and – as co-organizers – the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL). Lebanon was represented by delegations of the Future Movement and the National Liberal Party, Jordan by the Free Thought Forum. In attendance for Iraq: the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, Dr. Humam Hamudi.

The FNF Regional Office in Cairo announces its upcoming regional blogging conference "Express and Free Yourself" to be held in Cairo from May 20th-22nd 2011. For more information, please click HERE . We look forward to receiving applications by Arab bloggers covering the political and social developments in the region. Good luck!

Liberal politicians and intellectuals from Turkey and the Arab world assembled on the outskirts of Istanbul from November 5 to 7, 2010 for the first Turkish-Arab Liberal Dialogue Forum. Recent developments in Turkey and Ankara’s foreign policy initiatives have aroused much interest also in the Arab world. The objective of this forum was to discuss these developments in a liberal Arab-Turkish framework. The delegates were mainly senior officials and politicians from liberal political parties, academicians and liberal intellectuals with the Arab delegates representing member parties of the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL).

The 2010 Economic Freedom of the Arab World Report was launched in Cairo at the 5th Economic Freedom of the Arab World Conference. Its title: “Roadmap to Economic Freedom and Economic reforms.” The three-day-event was organized by the FNF in cooperation with the Fraser Institute of Canada and the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman. FNF’s Amman Office sent to the conference distinguished economic and political partners from Jordan’s Young Entrepreneurs Association YEA (board members Mrs. Samar Haj Hassan, Mr. Samer Al Jabari), Dr. Yusuf Mansur, the Vice Governour of Iraq’s Central Bank, Dr. Ahmad Ibraihi Ali as well as Dr. Mounir Rached and Mr. Mario Nassar on behalf of the Lebanese Economic Association LEA.

Once more, Cairo came to the fore of the civil society in the Arab world: More than one hundred delegates representing NGOs, political parties, labour unions, international human rights organizations and the European Union joined the Conference on “Freedom of Association. A Roadmap for the Future” organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) from February 10 to 12, 2010. The three-day event marked the formal ending of a three-year regional project aimed at promoting the right to freedom of association in the Arab world.  This project has been supported by the European Union and was – in the initial phase – focused on Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. At a later stage, project activities were also conducted in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. At the recent Cairo conference, FNF could welcome delegates from Bahrain, Yemen, Sudan and Mauritania. “This project has opened many new doors and the Foundation’s image in the Arab civil society has benefited considerably”, said Ralf Erbel, Director of the FNF Amman office that has been responsible for the project’s implementation.