The National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. The Endowment is governed by an independent, nonpartisan board of directors. With its annual congressional appropriation, it makes hundreds of grants each year to support prodemocracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.
The Endowment is guided by the belief that freedom is a universal human aspiration that can be realized through the development of democratic institutions, procedures, and values. Democracy cannot be achieved through a single election and need not be based upon the model of the United States or any other particular country. Rather, it evolves according to the needs and traditions of diverse political cultures. By supporting this process, the Endowment helps strengthen the bond between indigenous democratic movements abroad and the people of the United States -- a bond based on a common commitment to representative government and freedom as a way of life.For more information concerning this organization, please visit www.ned.org
The SDI has received support from the following organizations and individuals since its formation:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice.
IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.
IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. The Union’s headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland. For more information concerning this organization, please visit www.iucn.org
ICCO’s mission is to work towards a world in which people live in dignity and prosperity, a world where poverty and injustice are no longer present.
ICCO's work consists of financing activities which stimulate and enable people, in their own way, to organize dignified housing and living conditions. ICCO is active in countries in Africa and the Middle East, in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Asia, Oceania and Eastern EICCO co-operates with church and non-church organizations which are directly involved with the people, our prime target group. ICCO respects the individual culture, history, and social role of the organizations concerned. In co-operating, ICCO considers it important to actively listen to, and think with these organizations. For more information concerning this organization, please visit www.icco.nl
Many organisations campaign to save the world's forests and support the struggles of forest peoples. International co-ordination of these activities is important. FERN was created in 1995 to keep track of the EU's involvement in forests and co-ordinate NGO activities at the European level.
With so many issues affecting forests globally, FERN has decided to focus on the underlying causes that in many cases lead to forest loss.These include financial flows, the international trade in timber and other forest products, and government policies. For more information concerning this organization, please visit www.fern.org
