History of the Foundation
The Committee of Good Will was founded in early 1990 by Olga Havlová (1933 – 1996), the first wife of the president of the Czech Republic, in the spirit of the Charter 77 Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted. The Committee’s mission was to appeal to society’s moral conscience and to call attention to shortcomings in the state’s social policy and in the work of social, health-care, educational and other institutions. It also provided, to the best of its abilities, organizational and financial assistance if no other organization or facility could offer assistance, and worked to support and nurture newly emerging humanitarian projects.
On 23 September 1992, the Olga Havel Foundation was registered as a non-for-profit organization. Since that time, the organization has used the compound name Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation. As its founder, Mrs Olga made sure that all applications were professionally evaluated, that grants were properly monitored to ensure the effective use of resources, that assistance was provided promptly, and that the Foundation nurtured its contacts with both donors and beneficiaries. These are the principles that the Foundation has followed to this day.
In accordance with Act No. 227/1997 on foundations and endowment funds, the Foundation was registered in the Foundation Register administered by the Municipal Court in Prague, section N, ile 69, dated 14 December 1998.