FNF adopts strategic changes to respond to global democratic challenges

“2018 is a transformation year - a year when we want to develop new ideas and new ways to communicate within the Foundation and with people around the world,” said Steffen Saebisch, Chief Executive Officer of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF).

FNF celebrates its 60 years in May 2018. In the course of six decades, the Foundation has been steadfast in advancing liberal democracy in Germany and around the globe. It promotes progress through individual freedom so that people can realize their full human potential. This idea, which has led to unprecedented prosperity in the last decades, is now challenged again due to the rise of authoritarianism and protectionism.

“We can and must change in order to become more visible, more digital, more innovative, more creative, and more efficient. Our goal is to be the creative innovation platform for the promotion of freedom,” stressed Saebisch.

For 2018-2022, the Foundation shall focus on four core topics: quality education, open and digital society, social market economy, and international politics, with human rights at the center of all its activities. FNF has an expert hub in Brussels, concentrating on European Security, and in Washington D.C., dealing with issues of the global economic system. Recently, it opened a Digital Innovation Hub in Hong Kong.

According to Saebisch, FNF “needs to offer platforms for networking where people can exchange ideas and discuss liberal solutions.” He acknowledged the importance of the Foundation’s 60 country offices worldwide, especially now as FNF aims to contribute more ideas from around the world to the discourse in Germany.

Saebisch addressed representatives from the Foundation’s Southeast & East Asia and South Asia offices at the Pan-Asian Regional Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka on April 16-19, 2018. It was the second time a joint meeting between the two regions took place in 10 years.

“This inter-regional cooperation is also our response to increasing globalization. We’re sharing expertise not only to adapt to global trends, but to help shape them,” said Siegfried Herzog, FNF Regional Director for Southeast & East Asia.