The FNF and CALD Host NED Director

NED Director for South and Southeast Asia Brian Joseph with Assistant Program Officer Jessica Gingerich

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) welcomed National Endowment for Democracy (NED) director for South and Southeast Asia, Brian Joseph, and assistant program officer, Jessica Gingerich, at an intimate reception on 27 June 2007 at their office in Makati City.

Joseph and Gingerich are in the Philippines to assess the political situation and explore opportunities for increased NED involvement in the country. Earlier Joseph and Gingerich met with the CALD secretariat to discuss its projects, activities and possible NED-CALD partnerships. This was followed by a meeting with the FNF Resident Representative Siegfried Herzog for a briefing on each others key areas of concern and work and opportunities for closer cooperation.

FNF Resident Representative Herzog called the NED “a sibling in spirit” in his welcome remarks. “The Foundation and the NED share a similar type of work, core concerns and partners. This is a chance to deepen our cooperation and lay the groundwork for better things to come.”

NED Director Joseph said that it was refreshing to be in the Philippines and gather so many disparate opinions from various people on the country. “To me this is the strength of the Philippines; this is the strength of any truly open, democratic system,” he said. “When you have complex problems in a complex country, you are going to have complex answers to them; you are going to have complex points of view.”

The NED is a private, non-profit organization that strengthens democratic institutions around the world through non-governmental efforts. It offers hundreds of grants each year to support pro-democracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.