Asia Foundation President David D Arnold has said his organisation will continue assisting civil society in Pakistan and its presence for over five decades shows its deep involvement in making the country a prosperous and peaceful land.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, David D Arnold said Pakistan was the second largest partner of the Asia Foundation and he had come here to see the progress his organisation was making and to get input from the leaders of the civil society and other NGOs for reducing the distance between people and the state. He added that it was a great opportunity for him to develop relations with more civil society organisations.
He referred to a number of projects like Supporting Transparency, Accountability and Electoral Processes (STAEP), Democracy and Media Project, Women’s Empowerment and Mapping Heath Market Innovations which the Asia Foundation had been funding. The Asia Foundation president further said press freedom was a good sign for democracy and governance in Pakistan. He added that the Asia Foundation, as an institution, would help empower women.The Asia Foundation is funded by corporations, foundations, individuals and governmental organisations in the US, Europe, Canada and Australia. Recent donors of the Asia Foundation in Pakistan included the Australian High Commission, the UK High Commission, Department for International Development, the Rockefeller Foundation and government of The Netherlands.
