The Africa Day Youth Think Tank in action!

At the FMS, youth engagement is a high priority. For this reason, last summer we launched the Africa Day Youth Think Tank, a project in cooperation with Erasmus+. Thirty young people, from diverse educational and personal backgrounds, united around a shared interest: the African continent. Together, they have spent the past [...]
30 years of HCNM - an ode to Max van der Stoel

Last October 24 marked the 30th anniversary of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) - an institute under the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The HCNM's main role is to identify and address tensions involving national minorities that would develop into conflict [...]
Solidarity with Ukraine remains essential

Photo: Destroyed city centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 2022 - Pavel Dorogoj Today, the Max van der Stoel Foundation, in cooperation with Libereco and PvdA International, is organising a political café on the theme 'Solidarity with Ukraine', for which you can register here. During the event, the situation Ukraine will be discussed in two panels. In [...]
UN General Assembly 2023: key talking points

Photo: Basil D Soufi Today begins the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. During the General Assembly, world leaders from around the world gather in New York to discuss the most pressing developments facing our civilisation. The meeting gives an impression of international relations and offers [...]
Jenin attacks: yet another escalation by a far-right Israeli government

Photo: Twitter/OCHA oPt Large-scale discontent with the Israeli government On 29 December 2022, Israel's 37th government took office, the most right-wing, anti-Palestinian, and religiously conservative cabinet in Israeli history. This cabinet, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu of the Likud party, consists of two ultra-Orthodox and three ultra-nationalist parties. Several ministers from this [...]
New European publication on the way forward in Ukraine

Russia's aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 shocked the world and brought great devastation and trauma. The war continues in 2023, characterised by an unruly Ukraine, fighting courageously and energetically for its sovereignty, rule of law and self-determination. Western forces, with the European Union at the forefront, play an important role in [...]
Anne van der Meer leaves the FMS after 10 years

The FMS without Anne van der Meer is something many could hardly imagine, yet here it is. After working at the FMS for more than 10 years, Anne is leaving to work at Milieudefensie. Many Africa Days, several positions and two major studies (read here and here) have been [...]
Retrospective FMS Political Café: the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

More than a month and a half after the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the focus on helping the 23 million people affected seems to be waning. Therefore, FMS together with PvdA International organised a Political Café on the aftermath of the earthquake. The politicians, aid workers and journalists present stressed that the reconstruction of the disaster area is still a [...]
21 March FMS Political Café: Turkey and Syria after the earthquake

It is now just over a month since a devastating earthquake hit parts of Turkey and Syria. Immediately after the news of the disaster, major initiatives were launched. For instance, people collected clothes en masse and in came a nationwide Giro555 action that raised a lot of money. Still today, many organisations such as [...]
FMS looks back at 2022

The FMS team looks back on an eventful year, in which the world of democracy and development cooperation experienced some highs but unfortunately also many lows. In 2022, the world was shaken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which also disrupted Dutch and European societies on many fronts, and by climate disasters in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa. But we [...]