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Publications >> Democracy Newsletter
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National Endowment for Democracy News and Information Issue 3 2005
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NED in Afghanistan: Ensuring the Rights of Women and Minorities Through Local Efforts
Afghanistan has faced two decades of devastating wars and ethnic conflict, and today its leaders are challenged to restore peace to the country and dignity to its people. With the ratification of a new constitution in January 2004 the country took an important step forward, and the successful parliamentary elections of September 2005 should provide the foundation for a permanent representative government.
NED has supported grassroots programs for more than 20 years that promote civil society, human rights, and democracy in Afghanistan, and in 2005 NED has awarded 27 grants to organizations working toward these goals. "NED grantees are conducting programs that support democratic development in Afghanistan and the political process initiated by the Bonn agreement in 2001," said NED Senior Program Officer for the Middle East Abdulwahab Alkebsi. "Many groups pursue the larger goal of a democratic Afghanistan through local initiatives to empower women and democratize indigenous structures such as jirgas, shuras, and maliks," said Alkebski. Three groups featured below, two of which were honored with NED's 2005 Democracy Award, stand out in particular in this regard. Afghans for Civil Society: Involving Women in Public Life Afghans for Civil Society (ACS) is a nongovernmental organization founded in 1998 with the goal of bringing about a democratic alternative for Afghanistan that opposes violence and extremism and promotes the rebirth of civil society. Women's participation in the rule of law is an important element to the mission of ACS, which has created programs involving women in public life that are modeled after traditional local councils, or shuras. For instance, in 2002, ACS formed a Women's Law Group, which held a weekly forum to discuss the development of the new Afghan constitution as well as various issues affecting Afghan women. In December 2003, Rangina Hamidi, the group's coordinator, participated in the historic constitutional loya jirga in Kabul, and gave the women of Kandahar a unique opportunity to secure a better legal status for all Afghan women in the new constitution. After the draft constitution was voted on in December 2003, ACS facilitated women's involvement in the rewriting of the constitution by bringing grassroots women's activists from all over the country to Kandahar for a four day conference that included interactive workshops on the role of the constitution in securing women's rights, rights accorded to women in Islam, and effective strategies for community organizing. ACS also convened a 56-member provincial council, or jirga, in the Uruzgan province, composed of traditional tribal elders and other respected members of the community. The jirga opened an office, maintained an open-door policy to meet with constituents, and formed three committees to address local issues of security, reconstruction, and monitoring the provincial government. Most recently, ACS has started convening a women's shura in the Kandahar province, which comprises a representative from each of Kandahar's six districts, four women from ACS' Women's Law Group, and a representative from the Hindu community. The eleven-member shura will meet weekly to act as problem solvers and facilitators for the women of Kandahar, provide education and information for them, and serve as a liaison to support the newly elected women members of the Kandahar Provincial Council. Cooperation Center forAfghanistan: Promoting DemocraticValues at the Grassroots The Cooperation Center for Afghanistan (CCA), a nonprofit organization based in Kabul with regional offices in Mazari-Sharif and Bamian, is dedicated to promoting human rights, democratic values, conflict resolution, pluralism, and women's empowerment in Afghanistan via a citizen-centered approach to sustainable development. The Center's primary mission is to empower Afghan women, strengthen the capacity of Afghan indigenous institutions to operate more democratically and transparently, and engage the Afghan people in the political development of their country. CCA uses NED funding to publish a quarterly magazine for women, train women and young girls in administrative skills, organize three-day workshops on good governance in 16 districts of the marginalized provinces of Bamiyan and Diakundi for members of district councils, and conduct workshops for religious leaders, or mullas, and community elders on human rights, the demobilization process, and community involvement in the rebuilding of Afghanistan. Welfare Association for the Development of Afghanistan: Working with Traditional Structures for a Democratic Future The Welfare Association for Development of Afghanistan (WADAN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting durable peace, democracy, and human rights in Afghanistan. WADAN takes a sustainable development approach based on the identification and support of community needs and strengthening indigenous models of democratic governance. WADAN accomplishes these goals through the training of maliks, or key local power brokers throughout Afghanistan who serve as de facto arbiters in local conflicts and delegates to provincial and national jirgas, among other duties. WADAN has already trained 450 maliks from nine districts in eastern Afghanistan and plans to expand this project to forty-four new districts, which will facilitate the training of 2,200 maliks in peace-building, conflict resolution, democracy, accountability, women's rights, and community empowerment. [Top]
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President Bush Delivers Major Address to NED
President George W. Bush gave one of his most detailed speeches on the global war against terrorism before the National Endowment for Democracy and its four affiliated Institutes on October 6.
The world is facing "a radical ideology with unalterable objectives to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world," President Bush declared. However, he emphasized that the United States' commitment to promoting democracy will thwart radicalism. "If the people...are permitted to choose their own destiny, and advance by their own energy and by their participation as free men and women, then the extremists will be marginalized, and the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will eventually end. By standing for the hope and freedom of others, we make our own freedom more secure." NED Board Members Richard Gephardt and Christopher Cox offered remarks prior to the presidential address. In offering his perspective on democracy, Chairman Cox noted, "Democracy nurtures the virtues that can defeat terrorism. Democracy requires open debate, civility, and an open understanding of your opponent's point of view — if only to defeat him or her through the voice of reason." Concluding the program, NED President Carl Gershman noted that it is our mission and our moral obligation to advance democracy in the face of counter measures aimed at weakening indigenous democratic movements. "Solidarity means standing with people who are taking grave risks in the struggle to build free societies. In so doing, we are contributing to a growing spirit of international solidarity that transcends national boundaries." The event was held in cooperation with NED's four affiliated institutes, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute. It was made possible by the generous support of the Microsoft Corporation. [Top]
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Chairman's Message
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TERRORISM MUST BE WIDE-RANGING –from destroying terrorist networks where they operate to securing our infrastructure at home and protecting our citizens against the kind of attacks that we experienced four years ago in New York City and Washington, D.C.
In his speech, originally scheduled to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 but postponed twice as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the President pointed out that the great challenge of our new century is the murderous and totalitarian ideology of those Islamic radicals who have declared war not only on Americans, but also on all others who advocate freedom and democracy. Those in the latter category can be found, increasingly, in every part of the world, including countries with significant Muslim populations. In his address, President Bush compared the fight against Islamic radicalism to the one waged against Communism in the last century. Both ideologies, led by a self-appointed vanguard who claims to speak for the masses, are elitist and teach that "innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision." To those of us in the West familiar with their rhetoric and track record, the appeal of a Bin Laden or others of his ilk may seem bizarre. But to those fellow Muslims who face political repression and economic deprivation, a utopian ideology that promises future rewards has obvious appeal. That is why we must continue to promote the values that have secured political freedom and promoted economic opportunity for people around the world. In the words of President Bush, "As Americans, we believe that people everywhere prefer freedom to slavery and that liberty, once chosen, improves the lives of all. As the President pointed out on October 6th, replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East will not be easy – but neither was the struggle against Communism. In the end, the forces of freedom prevailed because we were self-confident enough about our values not only to defend them at home but also to promote them abroad. What was true for the previous period remains true today, namely, that "by standing for the hope and freedom of others we make our own freedom more secure." [Top]
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NED Honors Afghan Activists with 2005 Democracy Award
On Wednesday, July 13 the National Endowment for Democracy honored three democratic activists from Afghanistan with the Endowment's annual Democracy Award. The event, which included a roundtable discussion addressing the recent challenges to Afghanistan's continued democratic progress, highlighted the diligent and courageous work of the three honorees to educate citizens and local leaders about the basic values and principles of democracy, the rights of women and ethnic minorities, strategies for peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and the importance of broad political participation.
The roundtable discussion, titled "Building Democracy in Afghanistan: The Challenges Ahead," preceded the awards ceremony. Moderated by NED board member Francis Fukuyama, the discussion and presentation included comments by the three honorees in addition to Robert Barry from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), S. Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Barbara Haig of NED. Throughout the discussion, panelists detailed the many challenges that Afghanistan faces in its quest to build a democratic society, citing security as the number one obstacle that must be overcome. Mohammad Nasib remarked "our most important concern is the lack of security, followed by the needs for economic development, better education, more intercultural awareness, and the commitment to transparent and effective governance." Nasib elaborated on his vision of achieving success, explaining that "awakening awareness through civic education and confidence building techniques that are fully respectful to cultural norms is the key to facilitating democracy in Afghanistan. Building on the local democratic tradition of jirgas, electing village leaders called maliks…is a practical and effective place to start the process." Sakena Yacoobi highlighted her efforts to educate women about their role in building a democracy, explaining to the audience that today is an era in Afghanistan in which "every child, every girl, and every woman wants to learn. And when they want to learn, they are looking for a peaceful country, for a democratic country." Following the roundtable discussion, the Democracy Awards were presented by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD). In remarks preceding the presentation, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky expressed her strong support for the honorees, adding "Throughout time, we have witnessed that freedom's genesis has not been men or women of great celebrity or captives of history. Rather, freedom is the divine product of regular people doing very extraordinary things. America's own freedom has been the fruit of individuals who rose to the calling of history, often facing the greatest of risks and adversity. So too will it be with the growth of democracy in Afghanistan." In his tribute to the honorees, NED President Carl Gershman remarked, "The decisive contribution to Afghanistan's rebirth must come from the people themselves, working through organizations of civil society devoted to the education and empowerment of all Afghans. Working with countless other Afghans committed to building a democratic and tolerant society, these three individuals have demonstrated unusual courage, determination, and vision to the democratic rebirth of Afghanistan." More information about the Democracy Award and a video of the panel and presentations can be found on the NED website at http://www.ned.org/events/demaward/demaward2005.html.
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New York Democracy Forum Begins Fall Lecture Series
This fall, NED and the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) continue The New York Democracy Forum, a monthly lecture series that brings to New York audiences key players in the democracy movement who are leading the way to advance democratic values and institutions around the world. On October 6, Mark Malloch Brown delivered the first of this fall's lectures on the topic of "UN Reform, Democracy, and Human Rights." Malloch Brown has served as Chief of Staff to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan since January 2005. He has extensive experience in strategic communications and journalism, and is active in human rights and refugee issues. Democracy expert Larry Diamond will deliver a lecture titled, "Can the Whole World Become Democratic?" on November 3. Diamond is co-director of NED's International Forum for Democratic Studies, founding co-editor of the Journal of Democracy, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He has written extensively on democracy in the developing world, especially in Africa and Asia. Malaysian human rights activist Anwar Ibrahim will speak on "The Future of Muslim Democracy" on December 1. Currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University, Ibrahim once served as the deputy prime minister of Malaysia. His criticism of corruption and abuse of power within the Malaysian government in addition to his vocal demand for reform led to six years of imprisonment; during that time he led a new democratic movement from his prison cell. The two remaining lectures of the year will be held at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York. A full schedule and transcripts of past lectures can be found on the NED website at www.ned.org/nydf/nydf.html. [Top]
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Forum Addresses the Rise of Muslim Democracy
The United States and the European Union have been too wary of Islamization to push hard for democracy in the Arab world, according to presentations made by several experts at a September 6 meeting on "From Islamism to Muslim Democracy: New Approaches to Local Governance," cosponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. One panelist, Malaysia's former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim insisted that independent, accountable institutions — free media, an independent judiciary, a vibrant civil society, and the rule of law — were essential to building a Muslim democracy. He criticized western governments and intellectuals for indulging authoritarian rulers' violations of democratic norms in the name of anti-communism or, more recently, the war on terror. Leading Egyptian liberal Saad Eddin Ibrahim said his experience in prison alongside incarcerated Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood convinced him that many are genuinely committed to democracy. In embracing civil rather than secular democracy, the Brotherhood could emerge as an equivalent to Europe's Christian Democrats. The success of Islamist parties like Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its Moroccan namesake provided compelling examples for young activists that Muslim Democrats could succeed. Ibrahim argued that the West should promote a "Helsinki-style" program to encourage democratization in the region. But Islamists' rhetorical embrace of democracy must always be matched against their practice, cautioned Larry Diamond, co-director of NED's International Forum for Democratic Studies, whose personal experience in Iraq confirmed that such democratic commitments were often tactical or opportunist and belied by intolerant and violent actions against women and political opponents. "Institutions of horizontal accountability," including independent judiciaries, electoral commissions, and the rule of law were required to check potential Islamist abuses of power, he argued. Vali Nasr, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, said Islamists often resemble West European communists in the 1970s — internally conflicted and wedded to outdated revolutionary rhetoric but necessarily pragmatic. Like their earlier leftist counterparts, the prospect of political power requires that Islamists make alliances that could have a moderating effect, citing the experience of countries like Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, where repeated elections have resulted in more moderate Islamic parties. According to Nasr, "red lines" of acceptable democratic norms and behavior are essential and have effectively forced Islamists and parties to enter the democratic process, where they are encouraged to move towards the center. In the process, Islamist parties became Muslim democrats, and secular parties acquired an Islamic tinge.  * View this Event (Webcast hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.)
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NED Board Welcomes Shelton, Bids Farewell to Finley
Economist Judy Shelton was elected to the NED Board of Directors in September. Shelton specializes in global finance and monetary issues, and has provided expert testimony on numerous occasions before the Joint Economic Committee, Senate Banking, Senate Foreign Relations, House Banking, and House Foreign Affairs committees. She was named as a staff economist for the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform chaired by Jack Kemp (1995-96).
Shelton has been a member of the board of directors of Empower America, a policy action organization, in addition to the Hilton Hotels Corporation and the Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings. She is on the advisory council of Best Friends, an organization that promotes a schoolbased program for disadvantaged adolescent girls. Shelton and her husband Gilbert fund college scholarships for Best Friends participants through their private foundation.  Shelton replaces departing board member Julie Finley. Finley, who joined the Board in 2001, served as both a specialist on Eurasian affairs and as the Board's treasurer. She is a prominent Republican Party activist who, as a founder and board member of the U.S. Committee on NATO, has worked actively on issues related to NATO expansion and the conflict in the Balkan region.
Finley was recently appointed by President Bush as United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). She assumed her duties in Vienna in August 2005. [Top]
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Somaliland Holds Historic Elections
Parliamentary elections were held in the emerging nation of Somaliland on September 29, 2005. Located in the northern corner of what used to be Somalia, Somaliland has made itself a bastion of stability and democracy in contrast to rule by warlords and anarchy that has plagued its neighbor Somalia to the south during fifteen years of civil war. Two NED grantees, the Consortium for Somaliland Non-Governmental Organizations (COSONGO) and the Nagaad Umbrella Organization, worked in close collaboration in order to make a vital contribution to the validity of these elections. As a result, Somaliland will boast a government that is entirely democratically elected — an event which, the people hope, will be taken as indisputable proof of sovereignty and will at long last lead to recognition by the international community.
Somalilanders were determined that the parliamentary elections of September 29 lead to recognition of the country as a peaceful and democratic state. The government engaged in an unprecedented level of coordination with international organizations and local civil society to ensure that these elections were all inclusive and free of irregularity. Extraordinary measures were taken to ensure that a large number of international observers were on hand to verify the integrity of the process in every corner of the country. In response to a number of difficulties encountered during previous elections, the government introduced several innovations. To avoid the problem of double voting – widely regarded as the primary obstacle to fairness during Somaliland's presidential elections – invisible ink was imported from South Africa and applied to the left pinky finger of the voters after voting, a technique intended to prevent the removal of the mark. Legislation was passed declaring that double voters would be automatically subjected to a six-month prison term. Furthermore, legal measures were passed barring all but official election vehicles (including those of the domestic and international observers) from the road. A more telling innovation was the government's reliance on civil society organizations to take on the daunting task of training domestic observers for the polity's 985 polling stations. It was in this area that CONSONGO conducted an extensive needs assessment of the voter population, and used their findings to create a national voter education manual. They mobilized their member organizations to train and deploy 18 mobile teams to 139 locations throughout Somaliland. Their effort resulted in a nationally distributed cadre of 600 trained domestic election observers – a contribution that has been applauded by the government and its international support staff. The two groups continued their efforts throughout the electoral process, hosting a polling station on election day and deploying members of their staff on a 30-hour observation mission to ensure that the conduct of the observers conformed to the code of conduct that had been carefully crafted during months of governmental debate. As anticipated, crowds of people lined up to vote when the polls opened at six o'clock in the morning. The stations remained jam-packed throughout the day in spite of the tremendous heat and the lack of shade near the majority of polling places. When questioned about the fairness of the polling process, the lines of tired voters faithfully intoned the words "no problem," over and over again – those words becoming a prayerful refrain for this country that is determined to prove its democratic worth in the eyes of the world. Determined polling officials, many of whom had slept at their posts the night before the election and who undoubtedly worked all through the night following the vote, warmly welcomed the observers and were overwhelmingly positive in their assessment of the vote. Although the results of the elections have not yet been announced and the official report of the observation teams has not been filed, the hopes of the Somalilanders appear to have been realized. International election support staff and seventy-two international observers, including some from NED, reported only minor irregularities in the vote. It is doubtful that this now-proven democracy will take another international rejection of its national sovereignty lightly. Though the formal outcome of the election won't be known for weeks, in the eyes of Somalilanders, the true outcome is in the hands of the international community. [Top]
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In Memoriam
NED Mourns the loss of Nigerian Activist Chima Ubani
"This is a devastating loss," said NED Director for Africa Dave Peterson, who has known and worked with Ubani for 15 years. "Chima was among Africa's leading democratic activists, an intellectual and political strategist with an unwavering commitment to freedom and justice, not only for Nigeria, but for all mankind." Ubani began his activism as a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he was student union president from 1987-1988, and was expelled for leading protests against the Babangida government. He later played a key role in several leading democracy and human rights organizations, including the Campaign for Democracy, the Democratic Alternative and the United Action for Democracy party. Despite repeated harassment, arrests, even torture, Chima Ubani remained an unflagging campaigner for freedom and human rights, an inspiration to the entire democracy movement that now grieves his loss. A memorial fund for Chima has been established, and anyone interested in contributing can contact NED for more information. The Endowment extends its sincerest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Chima Ubani. Democracy Advocate Penn Kemble Dies NED mourns the recent passing of Richard Penn Kemble, senior scholar at Freedom House and former deputy director of the US Information Agency under President Clinton. Penn maintained a lifelong commitment to the democratic cause, from his days as a civil rights activist, through his work with Senators Henry Jackson and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, to his instrumental role in the creation of the Community of Democracies. He collaborated closely with NED colleagues in initiating the Transatlantic Democracy Network and as co-editor of Democracy Digest. Penn's death is a serious loss for all those who cherish the values of freedom and democracy. See Also: Eulogy for Penn Kemble [Top]
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