Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung@ 40 in Ghana population. Throughout all these years, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has continuously worked with its partners to promote a socially just and democratic society. Both the changing political conditions in Ghana as well as developments in Germany and FES' Headquarters have had an influence on the way that FES has been conducting its work. But what has remained the constant principle of our work is the cooperation in close partnership with our local partner organisations that stand for the same political and economic principles as we do. Cooperation with the Ghana Trades Union Congress(TUC) has been part of the first activities of FES in Ghana and continues to be an important aspect of our work today. In the beginning of our activities in Ghana we supported cooperative movements to improve the livelihoods of the rural communities. The early days also saw an intensive cooperation on an extensive film project with the Ghana Broadcasting Cooperation(GBC) and a few years later with the National Film and Television Institute(NAFTI). Using film as a means for civic and political education was perceived as an effective means of reaching large numbers of people. The film project resulted in the establishment of the training institute NAFTI which was supported on a large scale by FES. Even though the cooperation with NAFTI has come to an end due to a shift of focus in FES' media work, the success of NAFTI today, shows the sustainable character of FES' projects. Due to the political situation at the beginning of the 1980s, FES withdrew from Ghana for five years before returning in 1987, however, not without having made provisions for the running projects to continue or to be phased out slowly. 3