RESTRICTED
WORL D TRAD E
ORGANIZA TIONWT/BFA/W/56
7 May 2 001
(01-2327)
Committee on Budget , Finance and Administra tion Original: English
PROPOSED D ONATION PUR SUANT T O THE GUI DELINES APPR OVED BY T HE
GENERAL C OUNCIL ON 15 DECEMBER 2000 (WT/L/386)
Notification to the Commi ttee on Budget, Finance and Administration
1. Donor : The Fried rich-Eb ert-Stiftung (FES ), a German-ba sed non-profit found ation funde d
mainly through donations fr om ce ntral and regional Germ an gov ernments.
2. Activities, Aims and Motiva tions of Donor :  Acco rding to information pr ovided by the FES,
its activi ties in development coope ration areseen as a contribution to: the improvement of political
and social framewo rk conditions; the democratization of social structure s; the strengthe ning of free
trade unions; the improv ement of communication and media structu res; regional and intern ational
media coope ration; regional cooperation between states and different interest groups; and,
overc oming the North-South co nflict.
3. Purpose of the Donation : To facilitate the participation of developing country journ alists in
a series of 2 ½ day semina rs designed to familiarize these journ alists with current WTO issue s and
build their capacity to write on WTO topics.
4. Nature and Estimated Value of Dona tion: The donation is mainly an "in-kind" donation of
airline tickets directly from FES to selected journalists . FES would also provide participants with a
subsistence allowance. No funds would pass throug h WTO. The estimated value ofthe donation is
approximately CHF 115,000.
5. Previous WTO Expe rience with Donor : The FES provided substantial financial assistanc e
to facilitate developing country journalists' coverage of the Singapo re (96), Genev a (98) and Seattle
(99) Ministerial Confe rences, as well as the 199 7 High Level M eeting on LDCs.
6. WTO Secre tariat Review of Proposal: This proposal was reviewed on 1 May 2001 by a
WTO Secretariat Committee comprised of the DDG respon sible for financial issue s and
representatives from the Legal Affairs Division, the Administration and Gener al Service s Division,
the Development Division, the External Relations Division and the Information and Media Relations
Division. The Secreta riat Commit tee approv ed this proposal for submission to the Commit tee on
Budget.  Finance and Administration for conside ration by the Committee.
7. Additional Background Information : Additional backgroun d information is provided in
the attachment to this notificat ion.
WT/BFA/W/56
Page 2
ATTACHMENT
Additional Background I nformation on the Prop osed Donation by the Fried rich-Ebe rt-Stiftung (FES)
Backgro und materials in this document are concerned with a propo sal by the Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung (Geneva and Bonn offices) to financially assist the WTO with training courses for journalists
in the period 2001 -2002.
The materials in this document con sist of the following:
(a) A description of the FES's origins, main aims, activities and composition taken from
the FES website at: http: //www.fes.de
(b) A copy of theWTO' s proposal to start training cours es in Geneva for journalists from
industrialized and developing countrie s, including the least-de veloped countries, in
English, French and Spanish. The dates of the training session s have been discu ssed
and coo rdinated with the FES.  Ses sions could b e held a s follows:
11-13 June 2 001 – En glish session,
mid-September 200 1 – Fr ench session and
March 2002 – Spanish session.
(c) A draft outline of subject areas to be covered in a typical two and a half day training
progr amme,  and
(d) An estimate of the financial value of the FES's contribution and division of work
between the WTO a nd the FES.
WT/BFA/W/56
Page 3
A. DESCRIPTION OF FES'S ORIGINS , AIMS AND COMPOSITION
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Committed to Social Democra cy...
History
The Fried rich-Ebe rt-Stiftung or FES (Stiftung is the German word for found ation) was
founde d in 1925 as a political legacy of Germany 's first democ ratically elected president, Fried rich
Ebert, who died in that yea r.
Ebert, a Social Democrat of humble origins, had risen to hold the highest office in his country
despite conside rable opposition from his political adversarie s. He assumed the burden of the
presiden cy in a country which was crisis-ridde n following its defeat in World War I. His own
perso nal expe rienc e led him to propos e the e stablishment of a f oundation with a three fold aim:
/AB furthe ring a demo cratic, pluralistic political culture by means of political education for
all classes o f society,
/AB facilitating access to highe r education for gifted youn g people by providing
scholar ships,
/AB contributing to international understanding and co-operation wherever possible to avert
a fresh o utbreak of wa r and con flict.
The Found ation, which was immediately banned by the Nazis in 1933 and not re-established
until 1947 after World War II, continues today to pursue those aims and has developed extensive
progr ammes in ea ch of the abov e areas.
The Fried rich-Ebe rt-Stiftung today is a non-profit making, political public-interest institu tion
commit ted to the principles and basic value s of social democ racy in its educational and policy-
orientated work.
Facts and Figures
/AB Staff: A total of 581 in the head office in Bonn, the six educational centres, thetwelve
regional of fices and a broad.
/AB Budget : Approx . 204 millio n DM (in 2000); mainly central and regional gove rnme nt
funding.
/AB Activities : In Germa ny alone around 150,000 people took part in 2000 in more than
3,000 adult edu cation cour ses,discus sion fo rums an d con ferences.
/AB Branches : Offices in 90 countries (200 0).  Activities in more than 100 countries.
/AB Scholarships : 1,700 scholarships were awarded in 2000, 340 ofthose to nationals of
other cou ntries.  Ove r 430 first-time schola rship holde rs in the s ame yea r.
/AB Library: Largest specialized library on the German and international labour
movement with more than 600.000 v olumes.
/AB Archives : Largest collection of documents on the history ofthe German labour
movement.
WT/BFA/W/56
Page 4
International Work
DEVELOPMENTA L CO-OPERATIO N
In the Found ation's offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America andOceania approx. 90 German
staff and about 500 foreign nationals areinvolved in proje cts in the fields of econ omic and social
development, socio -political education and information, the media and communication andproviding
advisory services. Approximately half of the Found ation's annual budg et is devoted to this co-
operation with our partners in the trade unions, politics, the busines s andacademic communities, the
media and the a rts.
The Fried rich-Ebe rt-Stiftung sees its activities in the developing countries as a contribution
to:
/AB the improvement of political and social framewor k conditions,
/AB the democr atization of social structures,
/AB the strengthening o f freetrade unions,
/AB the improvement of c ommunicat ion and media structu res,
/AB regional and inter national media co-oper ation,
/AB regional co -operation between states and different interest g roups,
/AB overc oming the North-South conflict.
INDUSTRIALIZED COU NTRIES
The Found ation has offices in 38 of theOECD countries, in Centr al and Eastern Europe, the
forme r Soviet Union and the Middle East. Togethe r with its partners in the trade union s, education
and research,public administration, local governme nt and various social groups andorganisations the
Friedrich-E bert-Stiftung foster s dialogue amon gst all democratic forces with the aim of bringing
about a balan ce of interests, solving conflicts and developing policy options. The activities and
publications of the "Eurokolleg" are centred on the study of the opportunities and problems within the
Europe an Union.
In the reform states of Easte rn Europe the Friedrich -Ebert-Stiftung is involved in suppo rting
the transition to a market economy and establishing a civil society, particularly in the fields of labour
market, social, en vironmental and media policy.
National Work
POLITICAL EDUCA TION
The aim of the Fried rich-Eb ert-Stiftung' s work in the field of political education is to enable
the people ofthe Fede ral Republic of German y and its organisations to determine the futur e of their
own society and b e actively involved in the polit ical proces s.
The six educational centre s and the12 regional offices aremaking a major contribution to the
social integration of East and West German y. The educ ational work of the Foundation is supported
by the German Trades Union Cong ress (DGB) and the German Salaried Employees 'Union (DAG).
The programmes arecarried out in co-op eration with universities, women's associations, the German
Sport Fede ration, agricultural associations, the Armed Forces, the police, church organisations,
teacher s associations, parents associations, youth and senior citizens groups, works councils in theWT/BFA/W/56
Page 5
public and private sector s, Amnesty International, member s of local gove rnment, development policy
groups , chamb ers of tra de an d commer ce and pr ess associations.
RESEARCH
In its practice -orientated research work the Fried rich-Eb ert-Stiftung attache s particular
importance to analyzing the economic, social and political problems in conn ection with the German
unification proce ss. In this respect the Foundation sees its role as providing a discus sion forum for
the future d evelopment of social democ racy.
Through its research proje cts, symposia, debate s and a wide variety of publications in the fields of
economic policy, labou r and social research, technology and society, social and contempor ary history
as well as foreign policy research, the Foun dation annually attracts thousands of expe rts from
economic and political life, public administration, the trade unions, the academic world and the
media.
SCHOLARS HIP PROGRAMME
In its scholar ship pr ogramme the F oundation supports students and young post-gr aduates with
outstanding academic qualifications from Germany and abroad for whom an academic educ ation is
not only a first step to a successful career but an expression of their commitment to society,
democra cy an d the cou ntry.
For fu rther in formation:
Friedrich Ebert S tiftun g
Press and Inf ormation Sec tion
Godesberg er Allee 149
53170 Bonn
Telephone (02 28) 8 83-0 or 88 3-666
Telefax ( 0228) 883-396WT/BFA/W/56
Page 6
B. PROPOSAL FOR WTO T RAINING COURSES FOR JOURNALISTS
Objective : Invite journalists and editor s with little knowledge abou t trade issues to Geneva
to learn abou t the WTO and national trade policy so that they can start writing
well-informed articles ab out issu es facing th e multilateral trading s ystem
The WTO' s Information andMedia Relations Division plans to organize a series of
training cours es for journalists interested in learning more about the WTO 's
Agreements and current and future negotiations. The idea is to hold three seminars a
year, one in English, one in French and a third in Spanish and to mix correspond ents
from industrialized with those from developing and least-dev eloped countries. This
type of intera ction should pro vide pa rticipants with a variety of global pe rspectives.
Struc ture o f the cou rses:
The courses are designed for small groups totalling no more than 20 persons. Half
the participants would come from developing and least-dev eloped countries, the other
half f rom industrialized countrie s.
The cours es would last two and half d ays and addres s the following topics :
- Fundamental principles o f the multilateral trading system
- Economic rationale fo r trade
- WTO Agreeme nts with strong emphasis on GATS, Agriculture, TRIPS, Regionalism,
WTO Rules (anti-dumping, subsidies and safeguards), Development, Trade and
Environment, Ma rket Acc ess and Dispute Settlement
- During their stay in Genev a, journ alists will also have time to interview the WTO's DG
or DDGs, to meet with their respective governme nt representatives and, if interested ,
other Genev a-based IGOs.
Funding: Outside funding would have to be secured each year to cove r travel and hotel costs
for journalists from developing and least-d eveloped countries . Costs associated with
travel to and from Gene va and for a three night's stay amount to about CHF 5,000 per
participant.
Sponsor s are the refore reque sted to bud get up to a maximum CHF 50,000 p er course.WT/BFA/W/56
Page 7
Costs for journalists from industrialized countrie s would have to be covered by their
respective news organiz ations. Ideally, funding for developing country journalists
would come from one source, but could also involve a partne rship arrangement
whereby several so urces provide funding for o ne or more courseseach year.
Selection of journ alists:
The editors of key English, French and Spanis h newsp apers in industrialised
countries would beinvited to nominate staff membe rs to participate in the cours es.
Those from developing and least-de veloped countries would be selected by
organizations with excellent media contacts in Af rica, L atin America and Asia.
Accommodations:
A central idea behind the training courses is for the participants to interact as much as
possible. Therefore, it is key that they all stay in the same hotel. The WTO has
special arrangements with hotels located near its premises. Thes e rates are affordable
and sho uld not stand in the way o f obtaining fun ding from pote ntial donors.
C. ESTIMATED VALUE OF THE FES C ONTRIBUTION AND DIVISION OF WORK
Expense s to attend the training sessions for journalists coming from developing and least-
developed countries are estimated at CHF 3,500.- per person. This amount includes travel costs of
CHF 2,500, hotel costs for three nights at CHF 185 a night (breakfast included ) anda per diem of
about CHF 150 (the FES will use their own p er diem scal e and not the WTO' s).
The overall contribution for 10 participants in each of the training sessions is therefore
estimated to be worth CHF 35,000.-
The value of the three courses and the FES contribution would therefore amount to
CHF 105,000.- in the period 2001-2002. This estimate does not include FES staff time spent on
identifying journalists suitable for the three training sessions and coordinating their travel
arrangements, wo rth an e stimated CHF 10,000.-
As conce rns the nature of the WTO's and FES's parti cipation in the training cours es,
activities would be divided as follows:
The FES would help select journalists in developing and least-de veloped countries and
arrange and pay for their travel costs to and from Genev a. It would also cove r their hotel and per
diem expens es. The FES would settle all payments directly so there would not be any mone y
transf erred to the WTO as su ch.
The WTO, on the other hand, would identify news organizations and journalists working in
industrialized countries (and some wealthier developing countries) and invite them to come to Geneva
at their own expen se. The WTO would also provide staff to give short lectures on their area of
expertise.
_________ _