Our Mission
The Syria-Iraq office of Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation (KAS) was founded in 2015 at the height of the migration from Middle Eastern Countries to Europe. Located in Beirut, Lebanon, the office is mainly funded by the special initiatives of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) procured for “Tackling root causes of Displacement, Stabilizing Host Regions, Supporting Refugees” and “Stabilization and Development Partnership in the Middle East”.
We focus on strengthening counter-terrorism strategies (including reconciliation and inter-religious dialogue), security policy (particularly security sector reform in Iraq), party cooperation and support the development of transparent, democratic political and innovative institutions encouraging Good Governance and the Rule of Law, as well as civil society activism and leadership towards democratization and political literacy.
We support our partner organizations - such as think tanks, universities, political parties and NGOs - in implementing workshops, trainings, conferences, individual-level support and research all over Iraq. These projects include long-term programs as for example scholarships to University students, a young-leaders-fellowship with multiple cohorts, dialogue programs bringing together high-ranking Iraqi officials with German Members of Parliament exchanging on the macro-political development in the region and elaborate research projects, as well as on-spot skill-building workshops for the better representation of women, classes on political communication for parliamentary staff, informal networking meetings and funding for short articles or news pieces.
Target groups of our initiatives are elected officials, party officials and bureaucratic decision-makers, researchers, experts and journalists, politically active youth, women and activists, as well as minorities and internally displaced persons.
