NEWS
Recommendations for the second Summit for Democracy
January 2023
With the next Summit for Democracy taking place in late March 2023, the Coalition hopes the recommendations outlined below will provide Summit planners with a menu of actionable ideas and suggestions that encourage and generate more meaningful participation by civil society, local and regional governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and the philanthropic community. The specific recommendations outlined below are suggested examples highlighted by one or several organizations in the FGDs. They may not all represent the views of all partner organizations in the Global Democracy Coalition and should therefore be read as a menu of proposed suggestions, rather than a strict checklist
New Deliberative Democracy Cohort hits the ground running
November 2022
Autocracy has suffered setbacks in Brazil, Ukraine and elsewhere in recent weeks. Now there is more good news for democracy emerging from the Summit, this time on deliberative democracy. A new Deliberative Democracy and Citizens’ Assembly Cohort of the Summit for Democracy has been created and the European Commission and Ireland have just signed up to be its political co-leads. The Cohort is already hard at work on its agenda of 11Commitments. Here’s how it happened.
It’s less than a year since we started on this journey .In December 2021, many in the field of deliberative democracy were a little disappointed with the practical outcomes of the last Summit for Democracy and started to lobby for change.
WFD’s 2022-2025 Strategy
October 2022
Westminster Foundation for Democracy has launched its 2022-2025 Strategy. It describes the focus of WFD’s work from 2022 to 2025, setting out a clear direction for WFD’s staff and for their partners. It includes:
• An analysis of the challenge we face
• What the appropriate UK and international response should be and how WFD can contribute to this work
• Our Vision, Mission and Values
• Our goals for the next 3 years
• What WFD will do to achieve those goals
The ground game: Supporting democracy must be part of America’s global strategy
September 2022
Today’s International Day of Democracy offers an opportunity to review the state of global democracy and also democracy’s essential, if often overlooked role, in U.S. global strategy.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with China’s and Russia’s freshly minted “no limits” partnership, emerging alliance with brutal authoritarians around the world, and unapologetic affirmation of illiberal values at home and abroad, validate the Biden administration’s view that the contest between democracy and autocracy is a defining challenge of our times.
The free world should recognize it has a substantial strategic advantage in this contest, because, fundamentally, people do not want to live in a world dominated by authoritarians or authoritarian values. Polls show large majorities worldwide consider democracy their preferred form of government.
Rising Hostility to Democracy Support: Can It Be Countered?
September 2022
International democracy support organizations (DSOs) are operating in increasingly difficult country environments. For more than a decade, the world has witnessed a creeping phenomenon of closing civic space. This trend has tightened restrictions on civil society and made it harder for democratic activists to receive support from outside actors. In many countries, the situation has deteriorated beyond the problem of closing space to the point at which external democracy support faces a fully hostile environment.
If the autocratization trend noted around the world continues, the number of countries with fully hostile environments will increase, obstructing democracy support even further. This makes it vital to draw the right lessons from existing international democracy support in such countries.
DSOs have sought to adapt to the increasingly closed civic space around the world. They have looked for ways to channel their support to less directly political entities. Many have funded informal and cultural groups as well as spaces for dialogue, rather than projects focused on political action directly against regimes’ authoritarianism. DSOs have also helped keep activists out of harm’s way.
EPD announces its co-leadership of the Youth Civic and Political Engagement Cohort of the Summit for Democracy
September 2022
The Youth Democracy Cohort was officially launched during the International Day of Democracy Brussels conference on September 15. The session introduced the Youth Democracy Cohort and discussed avenues for meaningful dialogue and collaboration between many types of actors working to advance democratic participation of youth across the globe. Bringing together youth activists in the EU and globally as well as key decision-makers involved in youth engagement worldwide, this session for debate and collaboration on the issue of youth political engagement provided the basis for the next steps of the Youth Cohort.
The Summit for Democracy Core Team provides an update on the Democracy Cohorts
August 2022
The Summit for Democracy Core Team provided an update on the Democracy Cohorts. Such cohorts, aim to bring together governments and civil society, amongst other on a number of topics related to the Summit. The document provides a list of the cohorts that have been launched or will be launched soon.
The Core Team also anounced that there will be a second round of civil society thematic consultation later this year.
Summit for Democracy Commitment Dashboard
May 2022
International IDEA and Freedom House launched a Summit for Democracy Commitment Dashboard. It provides an overview of country commitments to strengthen democracy domestically and internationally and contextual democratic performance data from International IDEA and Freedom House. It offers profiles for the 111 countries that were invited to the Summit for Democracy organized by the United States in December 2021.
A global turning point for democracy? A celebration of Larry Diamond
18 May 2022
This webinar discussion will be held virtually via NED’s YouTube channel. All participants must register in advance to attend and will receive login instructions by email prior to the event.
360/Open Summit: Contested Realities | Connected Futures
6-7 June 2022
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) presents the fifth annual 360/Open Summit on June 6 and 7 at the Square, in-person in Brussels and online around the world. Our global team of experts from five continents will convene alongside policymakers and journalists, activists and advocates, and industry representatives for two days of cutting-edge programming.
The theme of this year’s 360/OS is Contested Realities | Connected Futures. Facing generational global challenges and unprecedented technological innovation, communities and countries are struggling to agree on a shared set of facts. Emboldened autocrats seek to undermine the very idea of collective action that underpins the democratic world. While democracy versus autocracy, fact versus fiction, and who should hold power are contested, one thing is certain: our futures are connected. As today’s competition shapes the global system for generations to come, it is up to this community of activists, industry leaders, and public servants to work together to create a rights-respecting, transparent, and representative future for all.
Open Gov Week (OGW)
16-20 May 2022
Open Gov Week (OGW) is a global call to action to transform the way governments serve their citizens. For one week in May, open government champions, leaders and thinkers from around the world host or attend events to share ideas, discuss solutions, and commit to new levels of citizen participation in government.
The Eastern Europe Technology and Pop Challenge
Deadline extended to 13 May 2022 – Award contest on countering disinformation through pop culture
The Eastern Europe Technology and Pop Challenge was created to demonstrate and support solutions that combine tech and pop culture content to address and counter foreign propaganda and disinformation. DT Institute implements the Department of State’s Global Engagement Center-funded Information Access Fund (IAF) Sub-Award Mechanism, in collaboration with The Alliance of Democracies Foundation, who will help select awardees and promote winning proposals among European governments in the context of election integrity projects. The United States Department of State Global Engagement Center will offer a partnership and continued funding for the submisison of of up to $100,000 for a single winner, or a total of $150,000 for two winners in total if more than one solution is selected for funding. Eligibility for the award is open to all organizations, and companies operating and registered in Europe and the United States of America.
The Citizen Corruption Observatory Experience
Informative note
The Citizen Corruption Observatory is a joint effort set by a group of civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, led by the national chapter of Transparency International. Its objective was to develop a participatory and technical process to follow up the Lima Commitments, which was the result of the 2018 Summit of the Americas’ whose topic was ‘Democratic governance against corruption”. The agreement included 57 commitments acquired by the governments of the Americas.
As a result of this collective process, the CCO , generated 19 national reports and two regional reports (one final and the other on regulatory progress), in which the efforts or absence of the different governments and official authorities for complying with the Lima Commitments and other compromises in the fight against corruption were analyzed.
Gender Equality and the Summit for Democracy
8 March 2022
Political gender equality is a central pillar of democracy, as all people, independently of gender, should have an equal say in political representation and decision-making. In practice, democracies are generally better at guaranteeing gender equality than most non-democratic regimes.
Statement in Support of Ukraine
#GlobalDemocracyCoalition #StandWithUkraine
28 February 2022
We are again witnessing just how dangerous autocrats and their regimes can be. The Kremlin has for decades trampled on the rights and freedoms of its own citizens and is now attacking peace and democracy beyond its own borders, attempting to topple the Ukrainian Government by force.
Summit for Democracy 2021: taking stock one month later
27 January 2022
In response to the increasing challenges to democracy worldwide, the first ever global Summit for Democracy was held in December 2021, at the invitation of the United States administration. A second one is planned for the end of 2022, after a ‘year of action’, during which governments will implement their commitments and civil society and the media will monitor their progress.