The Max van der Stoel Foundation (FMS) was established on 21 June 2013 out of a merger between the Alfred Mozer Foundation and the Evert Vermeer Foundation. Before that, these two organisations separately focused on the promotion of democracy and development cooperation, themes that the FMS focuses on today.
The Max van der Stoel Foundation is named after former PvdA politician and diplomat Max van der Stoel, known for his commitment to international justice and respect for human rights. this page you can read a short biography of Max van der Stoel.
The Evert Vermeer Foundation (EVS) was established in 1967 to ensure that the voice of
people in developing countries is heard in Dutch politics. This was much needed, because the interests of developing countries were often ignored. The idea was to improve the situation of people abroad in the Netherlands. To increase the level of support in the Netherlands and involve people in international cooperation, the EVS also organised various public events, such as Africa Day. With this foundation, the PvdA honoured Dutch politician Evert Vermeer (1910-1960), who was a member of parliament and party chairman on behalf of the PvdA. Vermeer made an important contribution to the international ideas of the PvdA.
The Alfred Mozer Foundation (AMS)was established by the PvdA in February 1990 to provide support to social democratic sister parties in Central and Eastern Europe. There, after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, former opposition movements were in great need of support in forming democratic parties and stimulating democratisation. Here you can read a brief history of the origins of the Alfred Mozer Foundation.
The foundation was named after Alfred Mozer, a socialist German journalist who fled from the Nazi regime to the Netherlands in 1933 and was taken in by PvdA predecessor SDAP in Amsterdam. Mozer worked for the forerunner of the European Union for several years.
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