| Activities
related to the NGO Process
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DCP Executive
Director, Ted Piccone, speaks on a panel at the final
meeting of the Community of Democracies Santiago NGO process
in March 2005. |
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NGO Secretariat Issues Final Report of CD
Santiago NGO Process
Based on the final meeting of the Community
of Democracies Santiago NGO Process, the Executive Secretariat
has issued a final
report to all governments invited to the 3rd Ministerial
Meeting of the Community of Democracies. This document brings
together the recommendations and proposals discussed at the
final NGO meeting held in Santiago on 3-4 March 2005. The
document first presents global proposals that address the
overarching themes of international cooperation, political
systems, corruption and accountability, civil society, and
human security. The second set of proposals are based on the
regional workshops held at the final NGO meeting as well as
regional meetings that took place in the year preceding the
3rd Ministerial. For more information, please visit the official
website of the NGO Secretariat.
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Country Assessments For Invitation To Community
Of Democracies Santiago Meeting Presented To Convening Group
On November 25, 2004 the Democracy Coalition
Project in collaboration with Freedom House issued a Country
Assessments report for the Community of Democracies (CD)
Santiago invitation process.
The purpose of the report is to advise the Convening
Group governments as they decide which governments should
be invited to the third Ministerial Meeting of the Community
of Democracies and in what category (full participant, observer
or non-invitee). The study compiles and evaluates reporting
from a variety of national and international sources, including
intergovernmental, civil society and media reports, and reaches
conclusions based on the criteria for participation of governments
adopted by the Convening Group.
The invitation process is an important way in
which the Convening Group can demonstrate its determination
to uphold the commitments made in the Warsaw Declaration and
Seoul Plan of Action and ensure continued progress at the
Santiago meeting.
The Democracy Coalition Project and Freedom
House used the criteria established at the second Ministerial
Meeting of the Community of Democracies in Seoul, as well
as the Convening Group’s criteria paper as a basis for
determining the appropriate status for countries. In light
of the December elections in Ukraine, the Democracy Coalition
Project and Freedom House recommend that Ukraine be invited
as a full participant in the next Community of Democracies
Ministerial.
On January 10, 2005 the Democracy Coalition
Project issued a press release urging the Convening Group
to limit Community of Democracies membership to hose states
that are genuinely committed to strengthening democracy. The
Democracy Coalition Project and Freedom House based their
participation recommendations on the Country Assessment.
Cover
Memo to Convening Group
Country
Assessments Report
Press
Release
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Community of Democracies NGO Process Regional
Workshops
Throughout 2004 and early 2005 the Community
of Democracies NGO Executive Secretariat, with partner NGOs
in each region, planned and held a series of regional workshops
that evaluated the progress, setbacks and challenges of democracy
in each of six regions and generated concrete proposals on
how governments can address the major democratic deficits.
The results of these regional workshops were discussed and
will be presented to the Community of Democracies governments
in advance of the Ministerial meeting in Santiago.
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The
regional meeting for Asia, hosted by the Taiwan
Foundation for Democracy, was held October 5–6,
2004 |
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The
Regional Meeting for Europe, Russia and NIS, hosted
by Forum 2000, was held October 17–19, 2004 |
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The
Regional Meeting for Sub-Saharan Africa, hosted
by Electoral Institute for Southern Africa, was held
November 22nd and 23rd, 2004. |
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The
Regional Meeting for Middle East and North Africa,
co-hosted by the Panorama Center and the North-South
Centre of the Council of Europe, was held December 10–11,
2004 |
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The
Regional Meeting for Latin America, hosted by Participa,
was held December 13–14, 2004 |
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The
Regional Meeting for North America, co-hosted by
American University, Democracy Coalition Project, Council
for a Community of Democracies, Alianza Civica and Rights
and Democracy, was held on January 26, 2005. |
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NGO Process Global Issues Group
In an effort both to advise the governments
of the Community of Democracies and also to strengthen the
Community of Democracies process by making it more transparent
and democratic, the Executive Secretariat organized a working
group of non-state actors to think critically about the governmental
process and develop proposals for increasing its effectiveness.
The group includes representatives from: the
Democracy Coalition Project, the Council for a Community of
Democracies, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the
Institute of Multi-Party Democracy, and the Executive Secretariat.
The group focuses on the following issues:
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Strengthening
the Democracy Caucus in the United Nations |
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| b) |
Criteria for
the governmental invitation process |
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Democratization
of the Convening group (e.g. mechanisms of rotation,
participation, transparency of decision-making, etc) |
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Formalize participation
of civil society actors in Community of Democracies
process, especially regarding the format of the Ministerial
meeting. |
The Global Issues Group based its discussion
on a paper
prepared by the Democracy Coalition Project with contributions
and endorsements from Westminster Foundation, Institute for
Multiparty Democracy and Council for a Community of Democracies.
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DCP's Caldeirinha Presents Case for Greater
EU Involvement in the CD
In July, 2004 DCP’s Regional Director
for Europe Claudia Caldeirinha gave a presentation to key
EU experts and policymakers on why greater European Union
involvement is needed in the Community of Democracies. Calling
the current EU policy inconsistent, Ms. Caldeirinha argues
that greater involvement would be consistent with EU principles
and would serve to internationalize and enhance the profile
of the Community of Democracies. The Conference entitled “Enhancing
the European Profile in Democracy Assistance”
was hosted by The
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (IMD).
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Nongovernmental Secretariat Presents Recommendations
to
Convening Group
In July 2004 the NGO Executive Secretariat presented
recommendations to the Convening Group Ambassadors gathered
in Santiago for the quarterly meeting held on the Community
of Democracies. These proposals cover such issues as criteria
for invitations to the Community of Democracies meetings and
democratization of the Convening Group.
To read the proposals, please click on the following
links: Global
Issues Group: Its Role and Proposals and Civil
Society Participation at the Ministerial Meeting of the Community
of Democracies.
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DCP Co-hosts two workshops on the CD process
at World Movement for Democracy’s 3rd Assembly held
in Durban, South Africa
DCP co-hosted two workshops on multilateral
democracy promotion highlighting the role of the Community
of Democracies, civil society, International Financial Institutions
and the United Nations.
Read the report on Promoting
Democracy Multilaterally: What can Civil Society do through
the United Nations, International Financial Institutions and
the Community of Democracies?
Read the report on The
Non-Governmental Process for the Community of Democracies,
Santiago 2005: Promoting Regional Dialogues Among Governments
and Civil Society
Read the presentation given by David French,
CEO of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, on the Community
of Democracies, click
here.
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Community of Democracies Bucharest NGO Forum
On November 14 and 15, 2003 Bucharest, Romania
hosted the Regional Conference of the Community of Democracies
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the NGO forum. The main
objective of the Forum was for the NGO representatives to
share best practices and formulate recommendations to consolidate
democracy in CEE, focusing on the role of NGOs in promoting
good governance and education for democracy.
Click
here for the NGO Forum report and related documents.
Click
here for more information about this Forum in DCP’s
newsletter
For more information on the NGO Process
please see the official website of the 2005 Non-Governmental
Process of the Community of Democracies: www.santiago2005.org.
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