serve the public interest and have to meet the quota for female employees). International offices The Heinrich Böll Foundation currently operates 32 international offices. Projects overseen by individual offices are frequently not limited to the country where an office is located as many have regional responsibilities. Overall the foundation conducts and supports over 100 projects in 60+ countries. Even before 1997, when the current Heinrich Böll Foundation was created, some of its predecessors operated international offices, which were then absorbed into the new foundation. The very first office was the one in Prague, which opened its doors in August 1990. The second one was, in 1993, the Pakistan office, followed in 1994 by Turkey and Cambodia, and by Russia, Nigeria, and the Central America office in El Salvador (all in 1995). Over the course of the years, the only office that has been closed is the one in Ethiopia. According to the foundation it discontinued its activities there in 2012, as the conditions dictated by the Ethiopian government "in April 2012 confirmed that independent political work would not be possible (...) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation would remain extremely restricted in its activities. (...) Under these circumstances, the Ethiopian office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation cannot, in the foreseeable future, fulfil its mission of promoting democratisation, gender justice and sustainable development. (...) The closure of the Foundation's office in Ethiopia should therefore also be taken as a sign of protest against the ongoing restriction of human rights and democratic development in the country." In early 2013, the head of the foundation's Afghanistan office was recalled for security reasons. Office activities continue however with the support of local staff. International offices are, as a rule, headed by a German citizen posted to the country in question. They are supported by local staff and, in some cases, by additional German experts. Well-known office heads include Milan Horácek (Prague) and Kerstin Müller (Tel Aviv). The Washington, DC office In 1998, the Heinrich Böll Foundation opened its office in Washington, D.C. The office focuses on five programme areas: climate & energy, foreign & security policy, democracy & society, economic governance & G20, and gender. Through organising events and inviting international visitors, the office promotes the exchange of ideas and concepts between North America and the rest of the world. These five areas encompass the following: Climate & Energy: The foundation publishes and organises events