The Max van der Stoel Foundation (FMS) was created on 21 June 2013 from a merger between the Alfred Mozer Foundation and the Evert Vermeer Foundation. These two organisations previously focused separately on democracy promotion and development cooperation, themes that the FMS deals with 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. Read a short biography of Max van der Stoel below.
The Evert Vermeer Foundation (EVS) was established in 1967 to ensure that the voice of
people in developing countries permeates Dutch politics. This was much needed, because the interests of developing countries were often ignored even then. Improving the situation of people elsewhere in the Netherlands was the idea. To increase 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 founded by the Labour Party in 1990 to provide support to social democratic sister parties in Central and Eastern Europe. After the fall of the wall in 1989, former opposition movements there were in great need of support in forming democratic parties and managing democratisation. The foundation is named after Alfred Mozer, a socialist German journalist who fled the Nazi regime to the Netherlands in 1933 and was taken in by PvdA precursor SDAP in Amsterdam. Mozer worked for years for the forerunner of the European Union.
Like its predecessors, the Max van der Stoel Foundation focuses on democratisation, development cooperation and public activities: democracy, development and dialogue.
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