ABOUT US
The Global Democracy Coalition was formed in October of 2021, convened by International IDEA and other democracy and democracy assistance organizations from around the world. The goal was to create an informal group of organizations committed to the advancement of democracy, working together to engage constructively with the Summit for Democracy, hosted by United States government, in December 2021. Together, partner organizations decided to hold a Forum ahead of the first Summit.
The purpose of the Forum was to facilitate a global conversation on democracy to broaden the Summit discussions, providing a multistakeholder platform for voices, actors and issues that were not part of the official Summit. On 7 December, the first Forum brought together 52 democracy organizations across the world, with more than 250 speakers from over 50 countries and various sectors in 41 webinars, which were held over 24 hours and across all time zones, to discuss a variety of issues relevant to the democracy debate. The issues discussed ranged from the integrity of elections, women’s political participation, how to counter disinformation, hate speech, transnational repression, the state of democracy globally and regionally, youth and democracy, corruption and malign finance, the role of a free media, among many others. Coalition partners included democracy assistance organizations from the North, and democracy organizations in the global South, including from authoritarian contexts. A report summarizing the recommendations to the Summit for Democracy was put together in the 24 hours following the Forum, and handed over to Summit organizers to inform the discussions in the Summit and the year of action.
What started as an informal group working together to produce one Forum has evolved into a strategic multi-stakeholder alliance of democracy organizations from around the world committed to advance and protect democracy worldwide and to influence the Summits for Democracy and the Year of Action 2022.
The Global Democracy Coalition provides a platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange and experience-sharing, and advocacy around the Summits for Democracy and potentially beyond. Working collectively on strategic issues relevant to the democracy agenda can contribute to make our individual voices stronger and more likely to be heard.
