FES Pakistan -Project History

[1986-1989] [1990-1995] [1996-1999] [2000-2005] [New Concepts]

A first engagement [1986-1989]

Before opening its own office, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung started its engagement in Pakistan in 1986 through a German expert, Dr. Peter Pintz, working with the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). Dr. Pintz's work concentrated on supporting PIDE's research activities and establishing a regular transfer of knowledge and research results from PIDE to decision-makers in the government and the business sector. Studies focused on socio-economic development, unemployment and labour market policies as well as gender issues.

 During the following three years, Dr. Pintz was able to enlarge the scope of activities and established new relations with other organisations and institutions in Pakistan. This included the Ministry of Labour, the National Manpower Commission (NMC), the Pakistan Manpower Institute (PMI), several university institutes and departments, and the Pakistan Futuristic Foundation. FES supported research and publications of its partner organisations and collaborated in numerous seminars and workshops. Environmental protection and regional cooperation in South Asia became additional topics of its work.

 FES started to facilitate dialogue between Pakistani and German scientists by supporting joint conferences and granting scholarships. Additionally, it arranged for temporary engagements of German experts with partner institutions in Pakistan.

 Growing requests for collaboration with FES by governmental and non-governmental organisations, the visit of former chancellor Willy Brandt to Pakistan in 1989 and the end of the military rule finally led to the foundation of an independent office. In June 1990 an official agreement on cooperation between the government of Pakistan and FES was reached and an FES office was set up in Islamabad.

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Supporting social development and regional dialogue (1990 – 1995)

With the newly established office a new resident representative, Dr. Klaus Klennert, started working for FES Pakistan together with a team of one programme coordinator, one programme officer, two officials for finance and administration and secretarial and support staff.

The potential partners of FES had been defined in the Foundation's contract with the government of Pakistan and changes needed to be approved during the course of time. The organisation continued to work with PIDE, which remained an important counterpart in the years to come, and strengthened its relationships with new partner organisations. It established cooperation with trade unions and employers' associations, non-governmental and civil society organisations and strengthened its ties with federal and provincial ministries and their subordinated research and education institutions.

With its own office and staff, FES Pakistan was able to develop and apply a wide range of instruments important to socio-political cooperation:

• Training and education through implementation of seminars, conferences   and study tours;

• Policy consultancy through own staff or external experts for federal ministries and government task forces;

• Initiation and support of working groups on specific topics;

• Networking with other international agencies on donor coordination and inter-agency working groups;

• Networking with regional institutes in South Asia to support regional dialogue, research, and political cooperation;

• Support of research within FES's working approach;

• Publication of funded research studies, policy documents of partner institutions, and conference and seminar papers;

• Material assistance to partner organisations and institutions like training aids, books etc.;

• Short-term scholarships to candidates working in fields important to FES's working approach;

• Exchange of Pakistani and German experts, decision-makers and civil society members to respective countries.

During the first half of the 1990s, FES became active in three priority areas which were continuously extended and complemented. About 50 to 60 percent of the annual funds allocated to these areas concentrated on labour market and employment development policies and on industrial relations. Another 40 to 50 percent was used for projects bringing forward regional dialogue and Pakistan’s participation in important international socio-political debates. Projects and activities in these fields were planned and implemented together with local partner organisations.

Under its overall aim to foster effective labour market strategies, FES supported the implementation of Pakistan's eighth 5-Year-Plan through seminars and publications, training on the national labour market information system, and activities on employment promotion in the urban informal sector. In 1995, the foundation initiated a permanent working group on “Employment Promotion and Labour Market Development”.

Focusing on industrial relations, FES engaged in the professionalization of trade unions through regular training and publications on important labour issues, enabling them to promote employees' interests more effectively. Workshops and Seminars, bringing together workers' and employers' organisations as well as government ministries, stimulated dialogue between social partners to improve ways and systems of cooperation. Publications on child labour, working conditions, and women's employment and training were used to increase awareness among social partners and the wider public and to lobby for respective legislations.

Within a third working line and in close cooperation with other offices in South Asia, FES Pakistan supported research and activities within the framework of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and founded a regional working group to stimulate cross-border dialogue and research.

pillar in this working line built the institutionalisation of important international debates on economical, social, political, and ecological issues in the Pakistani society. FES supported international conferences of important think-thank and research associations in Pakistan especially focusing on socio-economic development and human security. Seminars brought together participants from the political and civil society to discuss topics such as social security, local political participation, and poverty alleviation.

Over the years, FES increasingly applied a more gender sensitive approach and developed tools for gender mainstreaming in its programmes. In parallel to these programmes, capacity building of partner organisations became an integrated part of FES's activities. This included training on participatory working methods and financial support for the purchase of training and research material.

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Working towards participatory democracy (1996 – 1999)

The mid-1990s saw the development of a fourth major component of FES's work in Pakistan. Apart from working on industrial relations, issues of socio-economical development, and regional cooperation, FES strongly focused on supporting the development of Pakistan's still young and fragile democratic political system.

On request from the newly elected government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, FES started to develop this new focus already in 1994 with projects to support the planned reforms of local administration bodies and of the electoral system. FES initiated a working group on local government reforms with the aim to critically accompany the implementation of planned reforms with research, publications and policy consultancy involving experts, important political representatives and government officials.

At the district level, FES facilitated discussions with elected representatives on the new administration concept issued by the federal government. Additionally, FES fostered the participation and integration of women in local political bodies through political education and awareness building at the local government level.

To support the electoral reform process initiated by the federal government, FES, regularly organised public forums to stimulate the ongoing debate and development from 1994 onwards. To enrich the process with expertise, an exchange of Pakistani and German researchers was facilitated over several years and FES initiated a working group in this matter comprised of members from the Pakistan Law Commission, the Pakistani Human Rights Association, the scientific community, non-governmental organisations, and religious minorities.

As stronger participation of citizens in political processes supposes a free and diverse media system, FES decided in the mid-1990s to put more emphasis on its already existing work in the field of media development. Together with partners, the Foundation carried out professional training on reporting, layout and publishing. In cooperation with several universities, FES published a series of manuals for journalists. Further activities included measures for media politics, media ethics, journalists’ working conditions and the role of the media in development processes. In 1995, the Foundation initiated a working group “Media Policy and Journalists”, which started to implement training and advisory activities on a regular basis. It particularly focused on the rural areas and worked with partner institutions including the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) and departments from several universities.

During the second half of the 1990s, FES gradually shifted its cooperation with partner organisations. The work with partners became more issue-based and thus more impact-oriented. In this new approach, partner organisations were primarily selected according to FES's development approach. FES tried to engage partners who best fitted the aims of its projects and programmes and were known for their high quality standards.

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Supporting civil society in the restoration of democracy (2000 – 2005)

New Concepts

Fifteen years after inauguration of the country office in Islamabad, and 20 years after the first commitment, the basic aims and values of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the key areas of its cooperation largely remain unchanged. Starting with a limited number of activities, the Foundation has witnessed growing trust and strengthening ties with its partners, as well as a multiplication of topics addressed.

Today, FES can build upon a well established partnership with highly professional partner organisations all over Pakistan, together with whom it manages to implement activities in all provinces and areas and on all administrative levels. Despite, or rather because of, the continuity of this commitment and the large international network FES can rely on, the Foundation has always proven the necessary flexibility to address topics and issues currently relevant to society and to design and adapt forms of activities that can best bring about the envisioned results. In recent years, traditional formats like conferences and seminars have given way to workshops and trainings, fairs and dialogues at the interface between state and society, government and citizen.

As a learning organisation, FES has simultaneously invested necessary resources to draw lessons from its project activities world-wide and to continuously improve the quality of its engagements.

Democratic Marketplace

The institution of political party has not fully developed in Pakistan for a variety of reasons. It neither aggregates or articulates people’s demands in order to make them a part of the policy agenda, nor does it fulfill the legal requirements of intra-party democracy in order to ensure vertical mobility of workers in the political organisation. Most political parties, despite their propaganda, constitution and programs, have become power pyramids, with feudal lords, tribal chiefs, clergy or industrialists at the top articulating and securing mainly their class interests. Therefore, vertical mobility continues to be limited and largely determined by family and clan connections in a society where social and political structures are intertwined and hierarchical.

The concept of Democratic Marketplace (Jumhoori Maidan) has been specifically designed together with our partner Pattan in order to address these challenges. Drawing on the extensive prior experience of both organisations, a series of training workshops for party leaders, office bearers and local leaders has been launched for different parties which agree to basic democratic values and a common code of conduct. Consequently, they have been invited to participate in a Democratic Marketplace, a public fair where they may display their posters, constitutions and programs in stalls, distribute their pamphlets, engage in an open dialogue about their stands on issues and interact with the general public regarding their ideas. The presence of media is an important incentive.

After a successful kick-off in several districts of Punjab, the project has now expanded to all provinces, as well as the federal and provincial capitals.

Young Professionals Network (YPN)

Youth is a precious asset of any country and can be a major player for a nation’s development. Following its mandate, FES Pakistan felt the need to play a role in the development of Pakistani youth by involving them in the discussion and implementation of all policies relevant to Pakistani society.

The aim of the Young Professionals Network (YPN) is to empower promising young talents to facilitate their professional advancement into decision-making positions. The core strategic objectives are:

• improvement of governance;

• foster social integration;

• empowerment of youth;

• raising awareness;

• knowledge transfer to local communities;

• South Asian regional cooperation;

• future cooperation partners for FES.

The Young Professionals Network comprises eight regional networks which will be established within the next two years. Based on specific criteria such as the Human Development Index, network accesses, etc. the less privileged areas of Pakistan were selected.

Young Professionals’ Network NWFP

The first YPN group, comprising of 22 members, was established in June 2004 in NWFP after a structured assessment. Since then, FES staff has provided the group with different capacity building and knowledge sharing programmes and involved these talented young people into other FES activities. YPN members also act as multipliers by disseminating learned experience during common social activities at different levels and in different sectors of the society. Thus a group of YPN members from NWFP met the Federal Minister for Sport, Culture & Youth Affairs, Mr. Mohammad Ali Durrani, to share their ideas about the development of the national youth policy.

In 2005, new regional YPNs have been established in Bahawalpur, Sukkur, and Quetta with 16, 18, and 20 members each. 

Citizens’ media dialogue

The growth of mass media in the 20th century and the recent emergence of new media raise the need to examine the role of citizens' rights with regard to conventional media as well as new media. Media have assumed a position that is unprecedented in people’s history. They serve as valuable means for the articulation of aspirations and problems, for entertainment and pleasure, for advertisement and information. However, media appear to exert enormous power which, in the name of freedom of expression, also remains largely unaccountable.

Media have their respective codes of conduct and there are official laws and rules that regulate them. But they do not comprehensively reflect the role of media from a citizen’s perspective. Compared to corporate media and state media, the single citizen, and even groups of citizens, are weak. At the same time, citizens have obligations to support and strengthen media’s independence.

It is, thus, important that citizens actively advocate for upholding citizens’ rights against the perils of unbridled media growth and connect these efforts with their obligation to strengthen media freedom. In cooperation with the Citizens' Media Commission, FES initiated a series of public forums on Citizens' Media Dialogue in various cities in Pakistan. The aim is to enhance citizens' capacity to effectively address their relationship with media for the goal of building an equitable society. To create a framework for the empowerment of citizens and for rendering their own duties to media, the forum identified 11 media rights of citizens and 11 media responsibilities of citizens.

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