Mali Assumes Chairmanship of Community of Democracies: Council seeks to build bridge between democracy, development

By Mercedes Suarez, Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The Community of Democracies marked the transfer of its chairmanship to Mali with a July 12 panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“We must speak up in areas where democracy is wanted,” U.S. Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky said of the council, a Washington-based group representing 106 countries committed to advancing democracy throughout the world.

The discussion, with panelists including Mamounou Toure of the embassy of Mali , Carlos Portales representative of Chile outgoing chair of the Community, and Czech ambassador to the United States Martin Palous, reviewed the organization's accomplishments as well as its future challenges. About 80 representatives of foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were also invited as participants, including delegates from the embassies of Senegal , Poland , Morocco and Indonesia.

Mali 's Ambassador to the United States , Abdoulaye Diop, will work on “building a bridge between democracy, poverty eradication, and development,” Toure told the forum.

Describing his own experience living in a developing country, Toure said it was necessary “to obtain a certain level of development” in order for democracy to flourish. “People must see the fruit of democracy,” he said, adding that aid must be implemented by non-corrupt governments in order for citizens to understand the power of democracy.

“If you govern well, if you invest in your people, there will be successes,” said Toure.

Mali was one of the first countries to qualify for supplemental U.S. aid funds under President Bush's Millennium Challenge Account because of its history of good governance.

The government of Mali relies heavily on partnerships with other nations in the Community of Democracy, a fact that Toure said would help the nation offer advice on how countries can help one another in achieving democratic goals. One way that developing democracies will be helped will be through the International Centre for Democratic Transition, a newly created Budapest-based institution that has drawn its inspiration from the Community of Democracies.

Dobriansky, referring to the most recent meeting of the council in Santiago , Chile , said the Community had a “premium placed on action” with initiatives “that provide a strong foundation from which to move.”

Dobriansky cited as an example the Community's role in organizing a multinational mission to East Timor, in which experts from New Zealand , Italy , Cape Verde , Israel , South Korea , and the United States participated.

The Community of Democracies also sponsored a successful dialogue on democracy in which governmental and nongovernmental representatives of seven Latin American countries shared democracy strategies with leaders from seven African countries.

In another example of how nations were advising each other, Dobriansky said that leaders in the Middle East had been inspired by the Inter-American Democracy Charter. Arab leaders, who requested the document be translated from Spanish to Arabic, expressed their hope to create an Inter-Arab Democracy Charter.