The Raisina Young Fellows Programme, also known as the Asian Forum on Global Governance (AFGG), is an annual ten-day policy workshop jointly organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, Germany. Each year, the Forum brings together 50-60 young leaders from diverse backgrounds, geographies, and sectors, nominated by heads of governments, ministries and departments; CEOs; well-known international experts; and heads of non-profit organisations.
The aim of the Forum is to foster leadership qualities among the selected fellows, and to serve as a networking platform that helps them establish lasting international relationships. Through dialogue, deliberations and debates with prominent figures from the world of politics, business and academia, fellows of the Forum assess and challenge conventional interpretations of complex contemporary realities.
The Raisina Young Fellows also participate in the Raisina Dialogue - India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, hosted by ORF in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
The alumni network of the Raisina Young Fellows Programme and its sister forum, the Bucerius Summer School (BSS), Hamburg, is 1600 strong, with alumni from over 100 countries, several of whom have gone on to become political party leaders, ministers, senior diplomats and CEOs.
Our alumni engage regularly through the bi-annual Governance Talks – which are designed as three-day conferences, where contemporary questions on economics, politics, and society are discussed.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor is the Dean of the Asian Forum on Global Governance. An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan's leadership of the organisation.
Samir Saran is the President of the Observer Research Foundation, and the Chair of the Asian Forum on Global Governance. Working with the Board, Samir provides strategic direction and leadership to ORF’s multiple centres on fundraising, research projects, platform design and outreach initiatives including stakeholder engagement. He curates the Raisina Dialogue, chairs CyFy and the Kigali Global Dialogue, and is also a Commissioner at the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace. Samir writes frequently on issues of global governance, climate change, energy policy, global development architecture, artificial intelligence, cyber security, internet governance, and India’s foreign policy.
Chairman, Observer Research Foundation
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius
Chief of Staff, Observer Research Foundation
Director, Head of Politics and Society, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius
Set up in 1990, the Observer Research Foundation seeks to lead and aid policy thinking towards building a strong and prosperous India in a fair and equitable world, helping discover and inform India’s choices, and carrying Indian voices and ideas to forums shaping global debates. ORF provides non-partisan, independent analyses and inputs on matters of security, strategy, technology, economy, health, development, energy, resources and global governance to decision-makers across diverse sectors.
The ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius was established by Gerd Bucerius, the founder, and publisher of Germany's leading weekly DIE ZEIT. Since 1971, the foundation has been involved in the funding of projects in various fields of science and research, education and training, as well as arts and culture.
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