South Asia
The Foundation was established in Germany in 1958. It aims to promote the goal of making the principle of freedom valid for the dignity of all people and in all areas of society, both in Germany and abroad. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom works in over 65 countries worldwide. In South Asia we have offices in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Additionally we work with partners in Nepal. We promote civic education, trainings and the exchange of ideas in the region in four focal areas. These are economic freedom, human rights, urban governance and digital transformation. In addition to the country projects, the Foundation supports regional programs.
News
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The Consequences of Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan
‘The Consequences’ is a set of short essays that provides a general overview on Afghanistan’s current situation under the Taliban’s second reign. Each essay will try to respond to a specific fundamental question related to Afghanistan’s situation, the consequences of the measures that will be taken in Afghanistan by key players and possible upcoming scenarios.
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Restarting Education in South Asia
The world is facing one of the biggest challenges of recent times with the breakout of the Covid19 pandemic. The pandemic has not only created a health challenge but also multiplied to become an economic, social, and psychological challenge. One of its major victims is the education delivery to children as schools and educational institutions have been shut for one and a half years and the uncertainty continues.
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Right to Information
The first Right to Information (RTI) law was enacted by Sweden in 1766 to access the information held by the king, following which 121 countries have adopted their own comprehensive RTI laws. 90% of the world’s population now has access to an RTI law or policy. Several international human rights instruments, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, recognize the importance of Access to Information.
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COVID19: Situation in Pakistan
It was a ‘pleasant surprise’ to see Pakistan in the 3rd place on the Normalcy Index, as mentioned in the July edition of ‘The Economist’ . Was it vaccination, lock down, smart lock down or economic policies attached to COVID-19 or everything in combination?
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Fifty Years of Independence: An Overview of Bangladesh’s Development
In the mid-1970s, shortly after Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan on 16 December 1971, Henry Kissinger dismissively called Bangladesh a “basket case.” Today the country has attained sustainable economic growth, significant poverty reduction, and continued improvements in human development indicators.
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Afghanistan: India’s Afghan Policy Hostage to Domestic Politics
When India was celebrating its Independence Day on Aug 15, 2021, Taliban was concluding its blitzkrieg through Afghanistan and took over Kabul. Amongst all the governments in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood, India seems to have been completely unprepared for the consequences of the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
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Nepal: Political instability, growth, and the role of think-tanks
In the 1990s, after the restoration of multi-party democracy, the hopes and aspirations of a free and prosperous Nepal amongst its citizenry were profound. The sentiment was fathomable, as the structure they envisioned meant that all people, even those that did not belong to the elite class, had an equal shot at prosperity. Unfortunately, after three decades of democracy, their hopes and vision have not yet materialized.
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An Overview of Bhutan’s Recovery Efforts
Bhutan managed to avoid large-scale domestic COVID-19 outbreak in the country through a series of proactive and well thought of actions, such as, stringent containment measures which included two nationwide lockdowns since 2020.
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Boosting the Vaccination Drive
The best shot to mitigate the profound risk of health crisis and move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic is by expediting the vaccination drive and ensuring that everyone is vaccinated. However, in Nepal, merely ten percent of the population have received a complete dose of the vaccine and an additional fifteen percent have received the first of the two doses.
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Lessons from Bhutan: The Bhutanese Economy and the Private Sector
The Bhutanese economy commercialized only after 1961 when the first development plan began. Prior to that, it was a small and scattered population relying heavily on subsistence agriculture. The little trade that existed was bartering and exchange of surpluses within communities. Records show that external trade with Tibet in the north and the Indian state of West Bengal existed.
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Nepal: Himalayan country in crisis?
“Official stats” on COVID-19 cases have reached half a million mark with daily new counts of around 10,000. Medical facilities are already operating at full capacity and many have been forced to deny admission of new patients in the absence of basic facilities like beds, oxygen cylinders, and ventilators.
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Lessons from Bhutan: Nurturing Democracy
Bhutan has been an example of how good governance can form the backbone of democracy if nurtured deftly. In many respects, Bhutanese democracy is a success story in good governance. For a small landlocked country in South Asia, between India and China, Bhutan has carved out an exemplary approach to development and democracy. It has gone on to demonstrate how good leadership and foresight can sow the seeds of democracy.
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Liberty and Happiness in Bhutan
The panellists in the event will deliberate on how Bhutan measures Gross National Happiness, its uniqueness and its limitations - especially against the background of the pandemic in order to understand what other countries could learn from the Himalayan Kingdom.
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Peace for Afghanistan!?
How can the distrust among the main stakeholders be overcome and a sustainable agreement reached, which will finally give Afghans a positive perspective for the future? What needs to be done to develop a sustainable roadmap for peace and nation building?
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Tourism for Global Recovery
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism industry very hard, both globally and in this region. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that 100 million jobs are at risk and US$2.7 trillion in revenue could be lost globally in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Social Media
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Women are bravely fighting for democracy, freedom, and human rights all around the world. In our documentary movie #WomenLeadingProtests we are telling the stories of four brave women that have played leading roles in the pro-democracy protests in Belarus, Hong Kong, Lebanon, and Venezuela. Join us in making their voices heard: https://youtu.be/7_8RAsHEBGQ #WomenLeadingProtests #FFI #femaleforward #FightingforDemocracy Lunã Safwan FNF Middle East and North Africa Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom - Pakistan FNF Sri Lanka FNF Bangladesh
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#WorldTeachersDay FNF South Asia in partnership with Centre for Civil Society , Eduposse, and NISA Education introduced the Dr. S. Radhakrishnan teacher training program that aims at addressing the learning gaps of students. Our goal was to train 1000 but we trained 1116 teachers!
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Centre for Civil Society in collaboration with Freidrich Naumann Foundation for freedom introduced the "CCS Dharampal Fellowship" to promote the blended mode of learning. This fellowship program has successfully trained 2 batches of teachers and now is targeting more. The teachers are more than happy and are working day in and out to enhance learning amongst students. The efforts that the teachers do to educate society are just worth being appreciated. Hence, we on the occasion of #WorldTeachersDay share this video with you to embark on a legacy and acknowledge the efforts of our respected teachers. Nupur Hasija
