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FES New York: About usThe Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) office in New York serves as a liaison between the United Nations, FES field offices and partners in developing countries to strenghten the voice of the Global South. It contributes to UN debates on economic and social development, and on peace and security issues. Towards this end, FES New York annually organizes some 30 seminars, conferences and roundtables and regularly publishes briefing papers and fact sheets. In addition, it contributes to a dialogue on the work of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. Thematic features include the UN debate on Financing for Development, the reform and strengthening of ECOSOC and the work of the UN Commission on Social Development. In the field of peace and security, the foundation has contributed to the international debate on peacebuilding with a particular emphasis on the UN Peacebuilding Commission. FES New York regularly hosts roundtable discussions bringing together UN delegates, secretariat staff as well as representatives from NGOs and academia. The office also offers capacity building programs such as the “Fall Academy: Understanding the UN” as well as visiting fellowships for policy analysts from the Global South. A newsbrief provides regular updates on FES New York’s activities. The New York office is located in close proximity to the United Nations headquarters. The office has four permanent staff members and provides internships for students specializing in international affairs, development and economic policy. PublicationsThe complete list of FES New York publications Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |
Highlights from New YorkRe-Defining the Global Economy Werner Puschra hands a copy of the FES-New York publication Re-Defining the Global Economy to Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank. On the occasion of the annual spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, FES New York organized three side events on the challenges presented by the global financial crisis particularly in regards to development and social protection measures. Just prior to the meetings, FES New York released Re-defining the Global Economy, in which expert authors discuss three approaches to a new global economic structure. Dean Baker, Peter Bofinger, Kemal Derviş, John Eatwell, Eric Helleiner, Stanislaw Kluza, José Antonio Ocampo, Arturo O’Connell, Prabhat Patnaik, Avinash Persaud, Tony Porter, Damon Silvers, Joseph Stiglitz: Supporting Democracy: Pressing the Re-set Button on International Policy
On April 30, 2009, FES New York and the Century Foundation organized an international conference on new prospects for the democratic idea. Discussions covered an array of topics, such as the coupling of democracy and economics, democracy promotion in the Middle East as well as the general challenges for democracy promotion, particularly since the international consensus around democracy has eroded over the recent years. In addition, key note speaker George Soros (pictured) spoke about the possible effects of the current financial crisis on democracy at large. Please click here to watch videos of the discussions, and access additional information on the conference. Also see FES's position paper on democracy promotion, and conference background papers from panelist Noha El-Mikawy (1 and 2), Karsten Voigt and Edward Webster. Governance, Transparency and Accountability in Financial Institutions and Regulatory Bodies
On April 27-28, 2009, FES New York and the Initiative for Policy Dialogue organized a hosted a task force meeting on Governance, Transparency and Accountability in National and International Financial Institutions at Columbia University. The two day conference featured renown international experts (pictured here Joseph Stiglitz with Werner Puschra) and addressed how problems of transparency, accountability and governance led to inadequacy of efforts to prevent the crisis, and how deficiencies in these qualities manifested themselves in responses to the crisis. For more information on the meeting including background papers and the conference participants please see the conference webpage. |
