Why ?
 
Having been encouraged throughout his career by remarkable Masters*, Paul Raymaekers, who devoted the major part of his active life to the Third-World, set up this Foundation.
Through his Research Office, the "Bureau d'Etudes pour un Développement Harmonisé" created in the former Leopoldville in 1956, Paul Raymaekers always strived for social sciences researches to be undertaken, within and for the Third-World, by high-level european students.
                            He continually encouraged Third-World individuals to work for social and humanist progress within their sphere of influence, and in addition, as an untiring collector, he did his best to rescue material and immaterial documents of the cultural heritage of the populations he lived with, with the goal of having them ultimately sent back once their respective areas of origin are duly secured.
Keen on having this task pursued after he retired, Paul Raymaekers undertook to create the Foundation that bears his name. A process that was initiated in 1983.
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*  Amongst the remarkable Masters who encouraged Paul Raymaekers, we can mention here:
-     Georges HAUMONT (1907-1981) s.j. who, for two years, strongly supported Paul Raymaekers while he was studying Classics (1947-1949). In 1954, Georges Haumont introduced in Belgium the (french) Conference OLIVAINT whose main objective is to familiarise students with Public Affairs.
-     Louis-Joseph LEBRET (1897-1966), o.p., founder of the "Economie et Humanisme" movement and of "Institut de Recherche et de Formation en vue du Développement harmonisé (IRFED)" ; Scientific Director at the C.N.R.S. ; editor of the Pontifical Encyclical "Populorum Progressio" concerning the Third World.
In 1963, Louis-Joseph Lebret prefaced Paul Raymaekers' doctoral Thesis, at the University of Louvain (UCL), on "L'Organisation des zones de squatting, élément de résorption du chômage structurel dans les milieux urbains des pays en voie de développement".
-     Robert CORNEVIN (1919-1988), historian of Africa; Permanent Secretary of the French Overseas Sciences Academy.
-     Henri DESROCHE (1914-1994), founder and director of the "Collège Cooperatif" (Paris), with whom Paul Raymaekers wrote several books on the syncretic religious movements of Central Africa. 

Amongst Paul Raymaekers' advisors, we can also mention:
-     Jérôme QUETS (1891-1964), Engineer-Director of the "Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK)"; co-founder of the "Centre d'Etudes des Problèmes Sociaux Indigènes" (CEPSI-Elisabethville). 
Supervisor of Paul Raymaekers PhD Thesis at the UCL.
-     André RYCKMANS (1929-1960).
-     Louis JADIN (1903-1972), historian of Africa; professor at the UCL.
-     Hendrik van MOORSEL (1905-1974), c.i.c.m., préhistorian.
-     Ka NGWESI MASIALA (1905-1979), village chief.
-     Joseph DE MUNCK (1916-1988), c.s.s.r., catholic priest.
-     MAFUTA KIZOLA (1915-1993), Zairian Politic Office Dean.
-     Pierre FELDHEIM (1918-1993), professor at the Brussels University (ULB) ; first vice-president of the BEDH.
-     Jean KESTERGAT (1922-1992), international reporter.