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Community of Democracies | |
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Headquarters | Warsaw, Poland |
Type | Intergovernmental Coalition of States |
Members of the Governing Council | 31 Members |
Leaders | |
Executive Committee (EC) | |
Thomas E. Garrett | |
Mantas Adomėnas | |
Establishment | 2000 |
Website www |
The Community of Democracies (C.O.D), established in 2000, is an intergovernmental coalition of states. Its aim is to bring together governments, civil society and the private sector in the pursuit of the common goal of supporting democratic rules, expanding political participation, advancing and protecting democratic freedoms, and strengthening democratic norms and institutions around the world. The Warsaw Declaration had outlined the task of promoting democracy. It is disputed if the coalition qualifies as an International Organization in the legal sense.
The C.O.D was inaugurated at its first biennial ministerial conference hosted by the government of Poland in Warsaw on June 25 to June 27, 2000. The initiative was spearheaded by Polish Foreign Minister Bronisław Geremek and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, along with six co-conveners: the governments of Chile, the Czech Republic, India, Mali, Portugal and the Republic of Korea. In total, 106 nations signed the declaration. [1]
At the close of the conference the participating governments signed onto the Warsaw Declaration, agreeing to "respect and uphold core democratic principles and practices" including, among others, free and fair elections, freedom of speech and expression, equal access to education, rule of law, and freedom of peaceful assembly. [2]
The C.O.D works on the base of the Warsaw Declaration. Since 2018, their work is more specifically guided by the Community's Strategic Plan for 2018-2023 which identified the following strategic objectives: [3]
Their internal structure include regular Ministerial Conferences, a Governing Council, a Chairmanship, a Permanent Secretariat headed by the Secretary General, six Working Groups as well as two Affiliated Bodies.
Currently, the Governing Council consists of the following Member States: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay. [4]
As of September 22nd, 2022, the two-year Presidency of the C.O.D is held by Canada.
Past Presidencies include: Romania (2019-2022), South Korea (2001-2003), Chile (2003-2005), Mali (2005-2007), Portugal (2007- 2009), Lithuania (2009-2011), Mongolia (2011-2013), El Salvador (2013-2015), United States of America (2015-2017). Between Sept 2017-Sept 2019, the C.O.D was led by a collective chairmanship of the C.O.D Executive Committee.
Ministerial Conferences are held towards the end of each presidency term in the capital of the presiding state, resulting in the adoption of a common declaration (plan of action) towards the following activities of the Community. The conferences were held in: Warsaw 2000 (Poland), Seoul 2002 (South Korea), Santiago 2005 (Chile), Bamako 2007 (Mali), Lisbon 2009 (Portugal), Vilnius 2011 (Lithuania), Ulaanbaatar 2013 (Mongolia), San Salvador 2015 (El Salvador) and Washington D.C. 2017 (United States of America). [5]
Since 2009, a Permanent Secretariat of the C.O.D operates in Warsaw, providing technical, logistical, organizational and administrative support to all its bodies. [6] The current head of the Permanent Secretariat and therefore Secretary General of the C.O.D is Thomas E. Garrett, appointed September 1, 2017.
Working Groups (WG) are action-oriented structures that drive the implementation of the strategic objectives of the Community of Democracies. WGs are composed of states, civil society representatives, and other democracy stakeholders. WG mandates are approved by the Governing Council, and they supported and coordinated by the Permanent Secretariat of the Community of Democracies. Currently, there are six Working Groups: [7]
The C.O.D consults two external bodies on a regular basis.
The Academic Advisory Board assists the work of the C.O.D by providing an academic perspective. [8]
The Civil Society Pillar (also Civil Society Assembly) refers to the non-governmental process of the C.O.D, including civil society organizations, foundations, and experts devoted to promoting democracy. It is represented by the non-governmental "International Steering Committee" (ISC), which is composed of 26 leaders of civil society organizations from all regions of the world, the Chair and Vice-Chair and the organization which serves as the ISC's secretariat. In April 2018, Fundacion Multitudes was elected as the first Permanent Secretariat of the CSP and Paulina Ibarra as Chair of the ISC. The ISC advises governments on the actions needed to enable civil society to work freely to strengthen democracy, rule of law, and protection for the fundamental rights enshrined in the Warsaw Declaration. The ISC coordinates a variety of initiatives for civil society, including the civil society forum taking place in the biannual Ministerial Conferences of the Community, which results in a set of recommendations to the Ministerial Declaration made by civil society representatives. [9]
In 2018, the C.O.D finalized the Phase III of the Myanmar Constitutional Democracy Project, implemented cooperation with Australia-Myanmar Constitutional Democracy Project, that aimed to facilitate an inclusive constitutional framework, through embracing all stakeholders within society and providing them with the necessary legal tools and language to engage in the process of drafting and amending it. In 2018, the C.O.D published a Building a Democratic Constitutional Culture in Myanmar booklet, which contains a summary of fundamental principles and concepts of constitutional democracy with a particular focus on those most relevant to the situation in Myanmar. Together with the two constitutional democracy workshops, held in Myanmar in February 2018, the booklet constitutes an effort to increase the capacity of key stakeholders to participate in the process of democratic reforms in Myanmar, extend their knowledge on constitutional matters, as well as to contribute to the development and support of a culture of constitutionalism in Myanmar. [10]
To support women's participation in politics, the Community of Democracies created a project called "Advancing Women's Political Participation", aiming to implement it in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International IDEA. As part of the project, five regional consultations were held on the margins of large international democracy-related events in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Consultation brought together politicians, state officials, civil society activists, academics, and members of international and regional organizations to discuss gender equality and strategies for advancing women's political empowerment in the MENA region. The project's five regional reports and final report contain specific policy recommendations on the advancement of women's political participation in each region. [11]
Chile's government is a representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Chile is both head of state and head of government, and of a formal multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and by their cabinet. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Congress. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature of Chile.
The Organization of American States is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union (AU). NEPAD was adopted by the AU at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to provide an overarching vision and policy framework for accelerating economic co-operation and integration among African countries.
The Summit of the Americas (SOA) are institutionalized gatherings of heads of state and government of the member states of the Western Hemisphere were leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values an commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced by countries in the Americas.
A supranational union is a type of international organization and political union that is empowered to directly exercise some of the powers and functions otherwise reserved to states. A supranational organization involves a greater transfer of or limitation of state sovereignty than other kinds of international organizations.
Club de Madrid is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. It is composed of 126 regular members from 73 countries, including 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 20 first female heads of state or government. Club de Madrid is the world's largest forum of former heads of state and government.
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organisation founded in 1987. Based in Arlington, Virginia, United States, the organization assists and supports elections and electoral stakeholders. Since 1987, IFES has worked in 145 countries and has programs in more than 50 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and the Americas.
Council for a Community of Democracies is a Washington, D.C. based NGO which was established in order to promote global interest in and support for the Community of Democracies, improved relationships among democracies, and democratic transitions in general. It was established in 2001.
The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) was created by UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan in 2005 as a United Nations General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around the world. It was welcomed by the General Assembly in the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit and was created by the UN Secretary- General.
The Energy Community, commonly referred to as the Energy Community for South East Europe (ECSEE), is an international organization consisting of the European Union (EU) and a number of non-EU countries. It aims to extend the EU internal energy market to wider Southeast Europe. The members commit to implement relevant EU energy acquis communautaire, to develop an adequate regulatory framework and to liberalize their energy markets in line with the acquis under the founding Treaty.
The criteria for membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, which apply to current and prospective member states, have been altered by a series of documents issued over the past eighty-two years.
Cordón Industrial is an organ of popular power or of workplace democracy. Cordones were established in Chile by the working class during the Salvador Allende Popular Unity government (1970–1973).
The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 EU member states and 16 Mediterranean partner countries from North Africa, Western Asia and Southern Europe. It was founded on 13 July 2008 at the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, with an aim of reinforcing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euromed) that was set up in 1995 as the Barcelona Process. Its general secretariat is located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) is an inter-governmental organisation within the OECD system. It is the only global body with a mandate for all modes of transport. It acts as a think tank for transport policy issues and organises the annual global summit of transport ministers. The ITF's motto is "Global dialogue for better transport". Between 1953 and 2007, the organisation had existed for over fifty years as the European Conference of Ministers of Transport. The organisation is responsible for creating several standards, including the Classification of European Inland Waterways.
The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy is a de-registered political party in Myanmar (Burma). The party was established on 26 October 1988, and campaigns for the interests of the Shan people. The SNLD became the largest Shan party in the Assembly of the Union following the 2015 general election. The party is a federal party having local branches in most townships in Shan State and few in other states and regions such as Kayah, Kachin, and Mandalay.
The INGO Conference is the body representing civil society in the Council of Europe, a European organisation founded in 1949. The Council of Europe has 46 member states with some 800 million citizens and its seat is in Strasbourg, France. The current president is Gerhard Ermischer.
Parliamentary elections were held in Mali on 23 February 1992 and 8 March 1992, the first after the March 1991 military coup that overthrew President Moussa Traoré. Following the coup, the Comité Transitoire de Salut du Peuple (CTSP) was created to manage the democratic transition. This body established a transitional government headed by Amadou Toumani Touré, the leader of the military group responsible for overthrowing Traoré. The transitional government oversaw a constitutional referendum and municipal elections in January 1992, the parliamentary elections in February and March, and the April 1992 presidential elections.
The Warsaw Declaration "Toward a Community of Democracies" is the founding document of the Community of Democracies. It was signed on June 27, 2000 at the building of the Polish Parliament by representatives of 106 democratic states attending the opening conference of the Community of Democracies.
The LEND Network is an initiative of the Community of Democracies designed to bring together key leaders from countries undergoing democratic transitions with leaders who helped guide their own countries' recent successful democratic transitions, allowing them to share experiences, best practices, and advice about how to navigate the challenges and opportunities of democratization.