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FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE (FFF)

The Foundation for the Future (FFF) is an independent, multi-lateral and non for profit foundation which is fully committed to supporting initiatives by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) aimed at promoting human rights, democratic governance, and reform in the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) region, while respecting the cultures and traditions of individual countries. The Foundation was created in 2005 and is based in Amman, Jordan. It is now supporting initiatives and projects in 19 countries in the BMENA.

I. History

The Foundation for the Future was created in 2005 during the second meeting of the Forum for the Future (Bahrain 2005) held in Manama in response to calls by CSOs of the region to create a MENA-based mechanism for channeling technical and financial assistance. It is an autonomous institution which, although supported by the Forum, is independent from the Forum’s process.

The Foundation’s regional headquarters and main operational center are currently located in Amman and operate through an agreement signed in March 2008 with the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From Amman, it covers an expansive region which includes North Africa, the Levant, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, and reaches out to several countries of the region through national representatives.

Following up on the unfolding ‘Arab Spring’ events, FFF has been achieving a pioneering work in providing demand driven support to BMENA CSOs whose role became even more crucial in this complex transitional phase. With this perspective, FFF expanded its activities in March 2012 by setting up an office in Tunis to enhance the role of civil society in support of the political change underway. In the same perspective, FFF opened an office in Libya in April 2012.

The Foundation for the Future is in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 2011.

'''II. Mission'''

The main goals of the Foundation are to strengthen democracy, enhance grassroots participation, and enable the countries of the Middle East and North Africa to enjoy civil liberties and exercise their human rights as endorsed by international conventions and democratic norms and practices. An empowered civil society is essential to the process of building more just and sustainable societies throughout a region which is undergoing powerful political transformations

The foundation views civil society as a critical partner to initiate, accompany and monitor the progress of democratic governance and human rights. Civil society can voice and embody the requests of the citizens and people of the region. The foundation provides technical and financial assistance, and a conductive framework to nurture civil society initiative through demand-driven grant-making, action-oriented research and capacity building.

The Foundation focuses on supporting free, fair, and genuinely competitive elections, the rule of law, access to and transparency of information, freedom of association, independent media, and access to civic education, the empowerment of women, and human rights as included in the major international conventions and agreements.

'''III. Activities'''

The Foundation is committed to promoting and strengthening civil society initiatives in their efforts to foster democracy and human rights in BMENA. In order to achieve this, the Foundation provides CSOs in the region a support package consisting of the following:

Grant making

This program is the core activity of the Foundation. The Foundation provides financial and technical support to civil society organizations from the region through its Grants Program since 2007. With this program, the Foundation intends to help CSOs implementing relevant and innovative projects, specifically within the Foundation’s priority areas. For instance, the grantee Tamkeen for Legal Aid funded by the Foundation since early 2011 had successfully implemented its project to raise foreign workers’ awareness of their rights and the concept of human trafficking In Jordan. By early 2012, the Foundation received approximately 1000 applications under its Grants Program and has approved 166 projects in 14 countries of the BMENA. However, FFF’s work reached indirectly 5 others countries through grantee work.

List of grantees since inception

Afghanistan
 * Afghan Women’s Network – AWN

Algeria
 * Ligue de prévention et de la sauvegarde de la jeunesse et de l’enfance (Tizi Ouzu, Kabilie) - LPSJE
 * Ligue for the Protection of Youth and Children
 * Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’homme - LADDH
 * Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights
 * Centre d’information et de documentation sur les droits de l’enfant et de la femme - CIDDEF
 * Cultural Association M’barek Ait Menguelet; in collaboration with The Center for Information and Documentation on Child and Women Rights
 * Aide aux victimes Femmes et Enfants - AVIFE
 * Help to victims Women and Children
 * AFAK
 * Association culturelle d’Akbou
 * Cultural Star of Akbou

Bahrain
 * Bahrain Human Rights Society - BHRS
 * The Bahraini Transparency Association – BTA

Egypt
 * United Group – UG
 * Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies - CIHRS
 * Arab Program Human Rights Activists - APRHA
 * Abanos Association for Childhood and Motherhood - AACM
 * Egyptian Center for Women's Rights - ECWR
 * Land Center for Human Rights - LCHR
 * Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights - MAAT
 * The Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement - EACPE
 * Gudran Association for Arts and Development - GUDRAN
 * Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development - ACT
 * One World Foundation - OWF
 * Development and Institutionalization Support Center - DISC
 * Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies - ICDS
 * National Development Foundation in Newabea (South Sinai) - NDF
 * The Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights - EFRR
 * The Egyptian Association for the Assistance of Juveniles and Human Rights - EAAJHR
 * Arab Media Forum for Environment and Development - AMFED
 * Resources for Development Center - RDC
 * Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue - FDHR
 * Eskenderella for Arts and Cultures
 * The Egyptian Association for Developing and Disseminating Legal Awareness - EADDLA
 * Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women – ADEW

Iraq
 * Tolerance International (TI); in collaboration with No Peace Without Justice - NPWJ
 * Iraqi Women for Gender Equality - IWGE – IRAQIAAT
 * Free Iraq Center for Civic Education - FICCE
 * Women's Legal Aid - WoLA
 * Pana Center for Combating VaW
 * Modern Iraqi Women - MIW
 * Civil Society Initiative
 * Bustan Association for Children's Education, Media & Culture - BACMA
 * Iraq Civic Action Network
 * Kurdistan Reconstruction and Development Society - KURDS
 * Women for Peace - WfP
 * Iraqi Organization for Conflict Resolution – IOCR

Jordan
 * Women for Cultural Development - NAMAA
 * The Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law & Integrity - ACRLI
 * Partners Jordan - PJ
 * Arab Women's Legal Network - AWLN
 * Jordanian Center for Civic Education Studies - JCCES
 * Jordan River Foundation Training & Consultancy Center - JRF/TCC; in collaboration with Nat Com for Family Affairs - NCFA
 * Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center - UJRC
 * Justice Center for Legal Aid - JCLA
 * Fatima Zahra Charitable Association for Women (Tafileh)
 * Community Media Network - CMN
 * Arab Women Media Center - AWMC
 * Musawa Center for Civil Society Development (Mafraq) - MCCSD
 * Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human rights
 * Community Development Committee (CDC), in Partnership with Movement for Peace - MPDL
 * Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society Development, Hayat Center - HCCSD
 * Methaq for Development and Human Right(In partnership with) Syrian Centre for Political and Strategic Studies – SCPSS

Kuwait
 * Kuwait Transparency Association – KTA

Lebanon
 * Philanthropic Amlieh Association - PAA & Tamkeen wa Tamniya
 * Samir Kassir Fondation - SKF
 * Maharat Foundation
 * Permanent Peace Movement
 * The Lebanese Center for Civic Education - LCCE
 * Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies - CESMO
 * Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace - LFPCP
 * Lebanese Center for Human Rights - LCHR
 * National Committee for the Follow up on Women Issues - CFUWI
 * Beit Al Hanan
 * Developmental Action without Borders/Naba’a
 * Collective for Research and Training on Development Action - CRTDA
 * The Lebanese Transparency Association - LTA
 * Act for the Disappeared – AfD

Morocco
 * Fondation Zakoura Education - FZE
 * Centre régional de ressources de la société civile (Consortium of Moroccan NGOs - Bayti, Forum Citoyenneté, ADFM & Mohammedia Université)
 * Centre d’études des droits humains et de la démocratie - CEDHD
 * Center for Human Rights Studies and Democracy - CHRSD
 * Forum de la citoyenneté - FC
 * Citizenship Forum - CF
 * Centre des Droits des Gens - CDG
 * The Cinematheque of Tangier
 * Association Initiative Urbaine
 * Association démocratique des femmes du Maroc – ADFM
 * Women’s Democratic Association of Morocco

Pakistan
 * Child Care Foundation of Pakistan - CCF
 * Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency - PILDAT
 * Civil Society Human and Institutional Development Programme - CHIP
 * National Rural Research and Development Foundation - NRDF
 * Sindh Community Foundation (sindh, Hyderabad) - SCF
 * Human Development Promotion Group (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) - HDPG
 * Development Dimensions Society (Punjab & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) - DDS Youth Parliament of Pakistan - YPP
 * Alternative Initiatives for Development - AID
 * Taraqee Foundation - TF
 * Emergency Patients Welfare Society - EPWS
 * Progressive Research Institute of Socio-Economics - PRISE
 * Pakistan Press Foundation – PPF

Palestine
 * Palestine Central Elections Commission - CEC
 * Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies - RCHRS
 * Teacher Creativity Center - TCC; in collaboration with The Arab Network for Human Rights Education - ANHRE
 * Institute of Law (IoL)- BirZeit University
 * Middle East Non-Violence and Democracy - MEND
 * Teacher Creativity Center - TCC
 * The Palestinian Center for the Independence of Judiciary and Legal Profession - MUSAWA (PCIJLP)
 * Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedom - MADA
 * Coalition for Accountability and Integrity - AMAN
 * Ma'an Network
 * Ashtar Theatre
 * Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS"
 * AL-Maqdese for Society Development (East Jerusalem) - MSD
 * Association for Development of Palestinian Women's Capacities (Gaza) -  ZAKHER

Tunisia
 * Liaisons Méditerranéennes / Mediterranean Links
 * Institut arabe des droits de l’homme - IADH
 * Arab Institute for Human Rights - AIHR
 * Association pour la Promotion de l'Education Citoyenne - APEC (formerly Association Images et Paroles de Femmes)
 * Association des femmes tunisiennes pour la recherché sur le développement - AFTURD
 * Tunisian Women Association for Research on Development
 * Democ'Art (formerly: Les Artistes Producteurs Associés)
 * Association Citoyenne Tunisien Khaman wa Qarar – ACT
 * Lam Elchamel / Bringing Together Diverse Trends

Yemen
 * Cultural Development Programs Foundation – CDPF
 * April 27th Organization for democratic education and defending freedoms and rights
 * Soul for the Development of Women and Children
 * Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights - YOHR
 * The National Forum for Human Rights - NFHR
 * Yemen Center for Human Rights Studies - YCfHRS
 * Yemen Education for Employment Foundation - YEFE
 * Social Democratic Forum - SDF
 * Yemen Center for Civil Rights - YCCR
 * Middle East Development Foundation - MEFD
 * Organization for Democratic Education and Defending
 * Youth Leadership Development Foundation - YLDF
 * Yemeni Organization for Economic and Social Development - YORECSOD
 * Youth Developmental Organization - YDO
 * Civil Development Foundation - CDF
 * AMAL Association for Social Development - AASD
 * Yemen Foundation for Social Studies - YFSS
 * Athar (Impact) Foundation for Development
 * Democratic Youth Association (Society) - DYA
 * Al wadi al jedid - Association for Social Development
 * Attanweer Association For Social Development - AASD
 * Transparency Center for Research & Studies - TCRS
 * Human Rights Information & Training Center – HRITC

Research

The Research Department of the Foundation for the Future was established with the aim of undertaking research activities and commissioning studies on topics of relevance to the Foundation’s mandate. By relying on evidence-based research, the Foundation seeks to enhance the role that research plays in the range of civil society organization (CSO) activities, including advocacy, networking, campaigning, and building partnerships and practical projects, in order to advance the work of CSOs.

The Foundation is also an active supporter of action-research initiatives promoted by CSOs in their respective field and environment. The Foundation awarded action-research grants to Civil Society Index (Al Urdun Al-Jadid Research Centre, Jordan), Quality Assessment of Democracy (PILDAT, Pakistan), or Security Sector Governance (Institute of Law at Birzeit University, Palestine, and Centre for Middle Eastern and Strategic Studies, Lebanon)

The Foundation is currently collaborating with various think-tanks and specialists for research projects around democracy assistance, transitional justice and civil society mapping.

Conference and events

By organizing regional conferences, the Foundation is assuring its continued support to the democratic change in the region with the importance of peaceful approach towards change that should be durable and more pragmatic. On January 17th, 2012, the Foundation for the Future organized a conference entitled “Violence and Non-Violence in the Arab Spring”. It gathered approximately 70 experts, thinkers and practitioners from the region, of whom four presented the theories surrounding political non-violence and provided study cases from their respective countries of Tunisia, Lebanon, Yemen and Palestine. Training and workshops Training is geared toward enhancing the effectiveness of CSOs and the impact of their work at community and policy level by improving the organizations’ know-how, management and technical capacity, advocacy skills and internal governance.

'''IV. Donors'''

The work of the Foundation has been supported by a diverse group of donors including

'''IV. Board members'''


 * Cornelio Sommaruga (Swiss), the Honorary Chair of the Board of Directors, is a prominent humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat. He is best known for being the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. Currently Dr. Sommaruga is the honorary President of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, as well as the honorary President of Initiatives of Change International in Caux (Switzerland). Moreover, Dr. Sommaruga served as the State Secretary of Switzerland for Economic Affairs from 1984 to 1986.


 * Bakhtiar Amin (Iraq), the Chair of the Board of Directors, previously served as the Minister of Human Rights of Iraq and Executive Director of the International Alliance for Justice (IAJ), which coordinates a network of 275 international non-governmental organizations from more than 120 countries. He has 20 years of experience in the field of international human rights and humanitarian work and has worked extensively on issues involving minorities, indigenous peoples, women's rights, land mines, the International Criminal Court, freedom of expression, and conflict resolution.


 * Kamel Abu Jaber (Jordan), the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, has been the President of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy since 1997. Formerly, he served as Minister of the Economy, Senator and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Jordan. Dr. Abu Jaber previously held the positions of Professor of Political Science, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, and Director of the Strategic Studies Centre at the University of Jordan.


 * Parvez Hassan (Pakistan) is the secretary of the foundation, Senior Partner of Hassan & Hassan (Advocates) in Pakistan and currently the President of the Pakistan Environmental Law Association. He has been actively involved in promoting and defending the rule of law in Pakistan throughout his career. He led the nation-wide lawyers’ movement in 1983 against General Zia ul Haq. He is also the founder of the Dr. Parvez Hassan Environmental Law Centre at the University Law College (Punjab University) and the co-founder of the Asia-Pacific Centre of Environmental Law in Singapore.


 * Abdul Hassan Buhusain (Bahrain) is the Treasurer of the Foundation for the Future, and Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee. Chief Executive Director of the Bahraini Civil Service Bureau until 1996. Prior to this, he was Undersecretary for Ministry of Information, and then a Member and Second Deputy of the appointed Shura Council. He was Member of Directors of Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), as well as Board Chairman and Managing Director of BAI, Bahrain Atomizer International (BAI). He now provides management consultancy services to private companies in Bahrain.


 * Sabine Gürtner (Germany), the Chairperson for the Grants Committee, worked as a research analyst for several years with Infratest, a social and economic research institute in Germany. In 2003, she followed a call to establish and to coordinate an NGO-Network and Think Tank “WOMNET” to address and to promote women’s and human rights, global governance, social development perspectives and the participation of civil society organizations in international processes through capacity-building, policy dialogue, networking, analysis, and research. She is currently the program director of Promoting Gender Equality and Women's Rights at GIZ (formerly GTZ).


 * Amal Basha (Yemen) is the Chairperson for Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF) in Sana’a, Yemen. Amal Basha is an active member of Yemeni Civil Society and has written a number of papers on gender, human rights, justice and citizenship.


 * Andreu Claret Serra (Spain), Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation, which promotes dialogue between countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. . Expert in international affairs, he previously served as the director of the Spanish News Agency (EFE) for sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. His interests lie in the challenges of developing countries, relations between the West and the Arab world, Spanish foreign policy in the Mediterranean space, as well as in the interaction between cultures, civilizations and the role of civil societies.


 * Chief Judge Robert Henry (USA) held the positions of Dean and Professor of Law at the Oklahoma City University School of Law, and since 1994 serves in the US Court of Appeals. Judge Henry is also a member of the Board of Directors for the VERA Institute of Justice and is a Life Member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.  He currently serves on the Board of various prominent Law institutions, including the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, chairing their Middle East/North Africa Council.  He has recently been appointed as President of Oklahoma City University.


 * Zahira Kamal (Palestine) is the director of the Palestinian Women Research and Documentation Center (UNESCO project), Zahira Kamal was appointed the first Minister of Women's Affairs of the Palestinian Authority in November 2003. She previously served as the Director General of the Gender Planning and Development Directorate at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. She has also worked at UNDP as Director of the Women in Development Program and is one of the founders of the International Women Commission for Just Peace between Palestinians and Israelis.


 * Dr. Rama Mani (France) is an internationally renowned expert on peace, justice and human security, Dr Rama Mani is a Councilor of the World Future Council as well as a Senior Research Associate of the University of Oxford’s Centre for International Studies. She was the Director of the Carnegie Corporation-funded multi-disciplinary project on, and co-editor with Professor Thomas Weiss of, Responsibility to Protect: Cultural Perspectives in the Global South (Routledge, 2011). She also authored Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War (Polity/Blackwell, 2002, 2007), and numerous academic articles on peace and security.


 * Mr. Arnold Luethold (Switzerland) is the Assistant Director of Democratic Control Armed Forces, Head, Africa and Middle East Operations. He has more than 25 years of experience in the Arab cultures, democracy movements and monitoring and controlling security organizations, especially in the Arab region.

In November 2011 the Arab-European Center of Human Rights and International Law honored Mrs. Hamza by its 2011 “Arab Human Rights Award” for her dedicated efforts towards enhancing the principles of Human Rights. Prior to her work at the Foundation for the Future, Mrs. Hamza served as the Executive Director of the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR), a regional center based in Tunisia and funded by UNDP, UNFPA and IPPF. She has worked as an Expert in the Arab League for 10 years. Moreover, Mrs. Hamza has been a founding member of several women's rights and development associations through which she acquired a wide knowledge of civil society organizations in the Arab countries.
 * The president of the Foundation: Mrs. Nabila Hamza is the President of the Foundation for the Future, (FFF). She has dedicated herself fully to the mission and detailed activities of this important organization, with a firm devotion to support the civil society initiatives in their efforts to promote democracy and human rights in the BMENA region. In recognition of her significant role in the Foundation’s continuing efforts to support civil society initiatives, the Arab Pioneer and Innovators Forum granted an award to honor Ms. Nabila Hamza in November 2009. This award promoted the dissemination of information on the Foundation’s achievements as a reliable and credible partner to civil society organizations for the promotion of human rights and democracy in the region.

V. External links


 * Website: www.foundationforfuture.org