Sep 1, 2010

News

NED Supports Participation of Young Activists and Diplomats in the Community of Democracies

From July 2-4, 2010, 87 official delegations and more than 200 civil society activists from around the world gathered in Krakow, Poland to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Community of Democracies (CD), recommit to the principles of its Warsaw Declaration, and to discuss improving and expanding its work.

Present in Warsaw at the CD’s creation – which was spearheaded by former NED board member Madeleine Albright and friend of the NED Bronislaw Geremek – the Endowment played an important role in helping to make the Krakow meeting a success. By assisting the CD’s International Steering Committee and Permanent Secretariat, and covering travel costs to Krakow, NED was able to significantly increase the civil society representation at the event. Many of the nongovernmental activists participating in the High Level Democracy Meeting were NED grantees, partners and staff, and they made key contributions to the proceedings.

Endowment support also helped the CD to broaden its composition and scope of activities by embracing a new generation of activists. To make this possible, the NED worked with the Lithuanian Presidency of the CD and awarded a grant to the Institute of Democratic Politics to bring 30 young activists from a dozen countries to Vilnius for three days of lectures, discussions, presentations, film screenings, case studies, and public events on youth and democratic transitions.

Following a series of planning meetings, the June “Democracy Days” culminated in the Vilnius Declaration and the creation of the Young Leaders Forum (YLF), which engages youth activists and organizations in the CD’s democracy-building processes. A youth delegation from the YLF then travelled to Krakow to participate in the 10th Anniversary event.

The YLF activists were joined by 40 additional youth activists who were brought to Krakow by the Atlantic Council of the United States through a NED grant to the Warsaw-based European Institute for Democracy. As part of 10th anniversary meeting, the “Young Diplomats for Democracy” (YDD) symposium gathered more than 75 civic activists and young diplomats representing over 40 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa to share lessons learned and build solidarity in supporting democracy around the world.

The program included three days of panels and discussions on advancing transparency and the rule of law, promoting democracy through technology and new media, observing elections, and empowering women’s political participation, as well as a series of networking meetings.

In Krakow, both the YLF and the YDD called for a greater consultation and interaction with youth in all CoD initiatives. Thanks to these efforts, the CoD established a new youth component at the Krakow meeting. Following the event, both the YLF and YDD continue to build their networks and plan for future CoD events. 

 

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