The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in India

India has impressed the world in recent years with high economic growth rates of around 8%. Experts in the media, investment banking and academic research agree that we are witnessing the rise of a second China, an economic and political powerhouse that will soon overtake Germany and Japan. However, following all the euphoria about "incredible India", there is growing criticism of persistent structural imbalances, especially in infrastructure, education and state bureaucracy. This may well explain why not all sections of the population have so far been able to benefit from the booming economy.

This is the point of departure for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, which supports India on its road to becoming a participatory, gender-fair and socially equitable democracy. The FES is, for example, helping to apply the Right to Information Act, which imposes duties on the state to provide information to citizens. Now that a fixed quota has improved women's opportunities for engaging in political work at local level, the FES provides training for women who enter parliament or stand for political office, enabling them to acquire the skills they need to exercise their mandates. As for the labour market, our country office has, for example, been helping workers in the informal sector - which now accounts for 93% of employment - to organise and defend their interests.

India's role on the international stage has also been growing. Accordingly, programmes for regional and global political dialogue are gaining more significance. The Indo-Pak-Dialog and the India-Europe Dialogue are just two examples of forums organised for this purpose by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.