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COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES TO MEET IN SANTIAGO
The Community of Democracies, a group of more than one hundred democratic
countries, will hold its Third Ministerial Meeting in Santiago, Chile in May
2005 to discuss ways of consolidating and expanding democracy worldwide.
Established in June 2000, the Community of Democracies is an informal
association of democratic states committed to promoting democratic rights,
values and practices at home and abroad. The founding principles of the group,
as set forth in the Warsaw Declaration, include free and fair elections,
access to education, freedom of expression, and commitments to transparency
and equality under the law.
The governments of Chile, India, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United
States, Mali, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, and South Korea convened the
first Ministerial in Warsaw and now act as the group’s steering committee.
As the United States is a member of this Convening Group, U.S. governmental
representatives are playing a key role in planning the upcoming Ministerial
and American NGOs are assisting with the coordination of the parallel civil
society forum.
Convening Group countries are preparing for Santiago by evaluating
membership criteria and comparing individual countries’ democratic records with
membership standards laid out in the Warsaw Declaration. Several occurrences
of democratic backsliding have been noted among countries invited to the last
Ministerial and the Convening Group is being urged to use discretion with
their invitations. The Community of
Democracies' membership criteria sets the standard for democratic states and encourages
countries to continually reassess their own democratic institutions.
Civil society organizations completed a series of five regional workshops
across the globe in preparation for Santiago. Each workshop explored regional
democratic deficits and defined proposals for governments to present at the
Ministerial.
Citizens for Global Solutions is one of only ten North American NGOs invited
to participate in the 2005 Santiago Ministerial. Charles J. Brown, President
and CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions was a member of the U.S. delegation
to the Warsaw Ministerial and Citizens for Global Solutions staff attended the
Seoul Ministerial in 2002.
Last Updated
December 15, 2005
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