Published: 2 November 2018
Last week the Central European University in Budapest announced it would partially relocate to Vienna given the Hungarian government’s unyielding hostility to civil society and academic freedom. Around the world, civil society including academics, journalists and philanthropists, courageously pursue their mission, often at great personal cost.
We are a group of leaders of private philanthropic foundations committed to strong and vibrant civil society. A healthy, functioning democracy depends on it.
We condemn the violence directed to civil society activists globally. We deplore the growing climate of fear and intolerance in which civil society is publicly demonized, physically threatened and administratively shut down.
We stand side by side with our civil society peers.
Civil society is an essential pillar of democracy. Without it, our democracy is diminished. We are proud to support it. We stand ready to defend it.
Signatories:
- Max von Abendroth, Executive Director, Donors and Foundations Networks in Europe DAFNE, EU
- Knut Olav Åmås, Executive Director, The Fritt Ord Foundation, Norway
- Antti Arjava, Secretary General, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finland
- Andre Betting, Executive Director, Van Leer Group Foundation, the Netherlands
- Nicolas Borsinger, Secretary General, Nicolas Puech Foundation, Switzerland
- Göran Blomquist, Executive Director, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Sweden
- Sanne ten Bokkel Huinink, Director, Fonds 1818, the Netherlands
- James Chen, Chair, the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation, Hong-Kong
- Kathleen Cravero, President, Oak Foundation, Switzerland
- Aart De Geus, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bertelsmann Foundation
- Lothar Dittmer, Chairman of the Executive Board, Körber-Stiftung, Germany
- Adriana Esmeijer, Director, Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation, the Netherlands
- Michael Feigelson, Executive Director, Bernard Van Leer Foundation, the Netherlands
- Rosa Gallego, Executive Director, Spanish Association of Foundations, Spain
- Carrillo Gantner AO, Chairman, Sidney Myer Fund, Australia
- Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment of Democracy, USA
- dr. Michael Göring, Zeit Foundation, Germany
- Sandro Giuliani, Managing Director, Jacobs Foundation, Switzerland
- Stephen Heintz, President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, USA
- Connie Hedegaard, KR Foundation, Chair, Denmark
- Mall Hellam, Executive Director, Open Estonia Foundation, Estonia
- Jenny Hodgson, Executive Director, Global Fund for Community Foundations, South Africa
- Wilhelm Krull, Secretary General, Volkswagen Foundation, Germany
- Massimo Lappuci, General Secretary Fondazione CRT, Italy
- Peter Laugharn, President and CE, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, USA
- Sara Llewellin, Chief Executive, Barrow Cadbury Trust, United Kingdom
- Joanna Luberadzka-Gruza, President, Polish Donors Forum, Poland
- Arto Mäenmaa, Executive Director, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Finland
- Bharat Mehta CBE,Chief Executive,Trust for London, United Kingdom
- Benoît Miribel, General Director, Fondation Merieux, France
- Ieva Morica, Executive director, Foundation for an Open Society DOTS, Latvia
- Isabel Mota, President, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal
- Anke Pätsch, Association of German Foundations, Germany
- Hilary Pennington, Executive Vice-President of Programs, Ford Foundation, USA
- Nick Perks, Trust Secretary, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, United Kingdom
- Sigrid Rausing, President, Sigrid Rausing Trust, United Kingdom
- Ebrima Sall, Executive Director, TrustAfrica, Senegal
- Gerry Salole, CEO, European Foundation Center, Belgium
- Göran Sandberg, Executive Director, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Sweden
- Teresa Sanjurjo, Director, The Princess of Asturias Foundation, Spain
- Dr. Andreas Schlüter, Secretary General, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Germany
- Michael Schwarz, Executive Director, Mercator Foundation, Germany
- Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, United Kingdom
- Aleksander Smolar, President, Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland
- Rupert Graf Strachwitz, Executive Director, Maecenata Foundation, Germany
- Anna Talasniemi, Executive Director, Kone Foundation, Finland
- Luc Tayart de Borms, Managing Director, King Bauduoin Foundation, Belgium
- Sergio Urbani, Managing Director, Fondazione Cariplo, Italy
- Roxana Vitan, President, Romanian-American Foundation, Romania
- Dimitris Vlastos, The Bodossaki Foundation, Greece
- Katherine Watson, Executive Director, European Cultural Foundation, the Netherlands
- Ridgway H. White, President, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, USA