In two regions where we do not maintain offices, we have formed partnerships with organizations whose work coincides with our priorities. Our long-term support for Israel and Eastern Europe has been expanded through the significant work of the New Israel Fund in Jerusalem and the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria.
New Israel Fund
The Ford Foundation has played a central role in the evolution and development of Israel's civil society sector, now a dominant force in helping the nation confront its many challenges. We have made grants totaling $70 million in Israel since 1948, with a focus on human rights and the search for peace.
Our early support from 1948 to 1985 focused on scientific and technical research that contributed to the development of Israel and also benefitted other nations in the Middle East and Africa. We invested in university-based scholarship and research primarily through competitions organized by the foundation-sponsored Israel Foundation Trustees (IFT). To date, nearly $10 million has been distributed through IFT, making the Ford Foundation one of the leading international funders of scholarly research in Israel.
From 1985 to 1995, a broader Israel-based portfolio emerged focused on advancing civil rights and social justice, and on international affairs. We supported, for example, research and programs to explore relations among the Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel and to encourage positive interaction among them. Grants also supported "track 2" meetings to advance the search for regional peace.
Since 1995, our grants have addressed three major challenges confronting Israeli society: the need to expand civil and human rights; the inequities faced by the Arab minority in Israel; and the ongoing conflict.
In 2003, we announced a $20 million grant to the New Israel Fund to establish a local grant program focused on peace and social justice. The program, managed entirely by NIF, has provided grants to more than 40 organizations in Israel working to strengthen democracy and to advance rights, equality and peace. The five-year grant shifted the Ford Foundation's Israel grant making from our New York headquarters to an indigenous organization that plays a vital role in Israel. In 2007, we announced a $20 million grant to extend this partnership for an additional five years.
Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe
The Ford Foundation's Eastern Europe grant making, which dates to the early 1950s, strives to advance human welfare, increase international understanding, encourage academic exchanges and promote freedom of expression. In January 2001 we collaborated with the Charles Stewart Mott and Pfizer foundations, Atlantic Philanthropies, Open Society Institute, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the German Marshall Fund of the United States to establish the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE Trust).
To date, the Ford Foundation has provided $24 million to the independent charitable organization. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, the CEE Trust has worked hard to promote long-term sustainable development of civil society in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Believing that this is essential to strengthening democracies and market-based economies of Central and Eastern Europe, the CEE Trust has been creative in its grant-making approach. It works at the local level to help nongovernmental organizations shape and pursue their own visions of civil society while gaining greater self-reliance and self-sufficiency.