Freedom, justice and solidarity are the basic principles underlying the work of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). The KAS is a political foundation, closely associated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). As co-founder of the CDU and the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) united Christian-social, conservative and liberal traditions. His name is synonymous with the democratic reconstruction of Germany, the firm alignment of foreign policy with the trans-Atlantic community of values, the vision of a unified Europe and an orientation towards the social market economy. His intellectual heritage continues to serve both as our aim as well as our obligation today.

The Multinational Development Policy Dialogue

The programme Multinational Development Policy Dialogue (MNED, Multinationaler Entwicklungsdialog) of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) has offices in Brussels and Washington. MNED Brussels is shaping the dialogue of the foundation with the European Union on development policy. In addition, a project team situated in Brussels and Berlin supports the offices of KAS worldwide with project proposals for EU funding.

Our aims are:

 

• To shape and deepen the dialogue between, the European Union, NATO and KAS Partners worldwide. The focus is the intersections of democratisation, human rights, migration, security and climate policy.
• To integrate the priorities of German development policy and its values including the experiences from the global project work of KAS into the consultation processes and programmes of the EU’s external action und development policy.
• To support the integration of Central and Eastern European countries in the structures of the EU and to enhance the political, economic and social transformation in countries of the European Neighbourhood in the Middle East, the Southern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe towards peace, stability and democracy.

An important instrument for implementing our goals are dialogue programmes which take place in Brussels, such as workshops, conferences or information and study visits together with international, European and local experts or partners. These are fundamental in order to enhance an exchange of information and views between partner organisations and representatives of the European Institutions, civil society and the business world on democracy promotion and development cooperation. Thereby, a strong point of KAS is its role as a mediator between the EU, as an organisation at governmental level, and civil society organisations.

Another of the programme’s activities focus on the drafting of policy papers and analysis concerning European democracy promotion and development cooperation. Exerting influence on European political decision-making and advocating for German priorities in terms of development policy are the main purposes in this context. The Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation is actively participating in consultations on policy coherence for development, the reform of democracy support in European development assistance as well as on the future of budget support and funding instruments.

The European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP)

Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation is a member foundation in the European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP). In the political arena of Europe it is essential to build networks for the pooling of interests. This is also significant for a constructive and critical debate about and dialogue with European institutions. Therefore, the European Network of Political Foundations, EnoP, has been created in 2006. The network presently counts 60 member foundations from more than 20 countries (within the EU and candidate countries). The members are close to party families represented in the European Parliament, belonging to the democratic spectrum but independent in their decision making and financing of international projects. ENOP has been implemented projects are co-financed by the European Union among others under the thematic programme “Non-state actors and local authorities in development” of the Development Co-operation Instrument.

Recently, the project “Building a bridge towards socio-political stakeholders for an effective EU Development assistance – enhanced dialogue with and within the European Network of Political Foundations” was implemented between September 1, 2012 and 31 August, 2015. It structured and deepened the communication of the political foundations with the EU on development policy and related topics such as human rights, democratisation and women empowerment.

A consortium of political foundations and local partners from Europe and Africa is implementing the EU co-funded project "Get Involved! Women Empowerment in Morocco and Benin". The project started in March 2018 and will run until February 2021. The main objective is to strengthen active political participation of women in political parties in both countries, in line with a multiparty, non-partisan approach.