Accomplishments of 2009 and Looking Ahead to 2010

CCD’s 2009 Year in Review

2009 was a pivotal year in the development and mission of the Council for a Community of Democracies.  The establishment of the Permanent Secretariat of the Community of Democracies (CD) in Warsaw and the advent of the Lithuanian chairmanship of the CD help set the stage for an active period, and CCD and its partners around the world took several steps to advance the vision of “a community of nations working together to strengthen democracy across a wide spectrum of cultural and religious traditions.”

The inauguration of Barack Obama in January provided the United States a chance to recommit itself to multilateral cooperation in support of democracy and human rights.  A CCD Task Force chaired by Board Member Larry Diamond presented the incoming administration with a set of recommendations for strengthening the CD.  This report was subsequently presented to the Convening Group of the CD and formed the basis for many of the changes in 2009 that have laid a foundation for a more effective CD.

In the first half of 2009, CCD, as the Secretariat for the nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies (ISC/CD), worked closely with the Portuguese Foreign Ministry in preparation for the Lisbon Ministerial of the CD.  A March seminar in Lisbon to discuss the Implications of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis on Global Democracy Promotion was attended by CCD and several ISC/CD members.  This led up to the July Lisbon Ministerial meeting, where CCD organized the participation of nearly 80 civil society leaders from around the world to meet with representatives from democratic nations to discuss how democracies can work together to promote democratic governance and values.  CCD held two days of meetings prior to the Ministerial, one focused on support for democracy in the Muslim world, and the other to prepare the full group of civil society for the Ministerial.

The annual meeting of the UN General Assembly provided CCD another opportunity to participate in the UN Democracy Caucus informal ministerial meeting in New York.  Several ISC/CD members met in New York and attended the Caucus, with ISC/CD Chair Paul Graham, from IDASA in South Africa, speaking to the gathering that included twenty Foreign Ministers from democratic nations. 

CCD was also involved in several regional activities contributing to the prospects for greater cooperation in support of democracy.  CCD President Robert LaGamma attended and gave a keynote address to the conference of the World Forum for Democratization in Asia, held in Jakarta from April 30-May 1.  Organized by partners from the ISC/CD, the WFDA meeting issued recommendations for strengthening democracy in Asia and identified opportunities for improving the effectiveness of the CD as an international actor.  Europe was also an active stage for the CD, with the establishment of the CD Permanent Secretariat in Warsaw and the rotation of the CD Chairmanship to Lithuania.  A roundtable held in Brussels in November, at which Robert LaGamma spoke on civil society’s role in the CD, established a link between the EU and the CD that holds the potential for greater partnership between the two organizations.  The following day, the Council of the European Union issued its report on democracy support, including calling for increased cooperation within the CD.

Also in Europe, CCD worked with the College of Europe to organize the first regional training workshop for the Diplomat’s Handbook for Democracy Development Support.  Representatives of diplomatic training institutes, foreign ministries, and civil society from Central and Eastern Europe met in Warsaw to examine the role that diplomats can play in support of local activists seeking to bring about democratic transformations in their countries.  Commitments by the Foreign Ministries of Spain and Portugal to develop translated versions of the Diplomat’s Handbook promise to expand the reach of this project, while work on a second edition was begun in order to capture the most recent trends and lessons learned for making support for democracy an important foreign policy goal of democratic nations.

Photo of George Mathew, Director of the Institute of Social Sciences, and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Usackas during his visit to India

CCD has forged an effective partnership with the Lithuanian Chair of CD to make cooperation between government and civil society an every day aspect of the Community.  Representatives of the ISC/CD traveled to Vilnius to meet with Lithuanian Foreign Ministry officials to define this partnership, which resulted in the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry identifying CCD and the ISC/CD as the representatives of civil society in the CD framework.  As part of this trip, Robert LaGamma delivered an address to the Lithuanian Parliament on the future of the CD.  CCD also hosted Ambassador-at-large Zygimantas Pavilionis at its office in Washington to meet with local NGOs committed to supporting global democracy, and Ambassador Pavilionis has been in regular contact with CCD and other ISC/CD members to develop strategies for realizing these goals.  This included a December visit of Lithuanian Foreign Minister Usackas to India, where the Foreign Minister met with ISC/CD member George Mathew at the Institute for Social Science in New Delhi to discuss the possibility of India hosting a training workshop on local governance and women’s empowerment for governmental and civil society representatives from Asia.

At the final meeting of the CD Convening Group in December 2009, Lithuania announced the reactivation of the Working Group process, which had been a key recommendation of CCD and the ISC/CD.  Working Groups on Poverty, Development and Democracy; Regional Cooperation; Threats to Civil Society; and Promoting Democracy and Responding to National and Transnational Threats were formally launched, with strong prospects for the activation of at least three additional Working Groups.  The decision of Canada, Romania, and Hungary, in addition to Chile, Korea, Italy, to lead Working Groups is an important development to expand the activities of the CD beyond the Convening Group itself.

2010: A Year in Preview

Image of Krakow, host to the CD's 10th Anniversary in 2010

The year ahead promises to be eventful.  Thanks to a grant awarded in 2009 by the United Nations Democracy Fund, CCD will be organizing 5 regional roundtables around the world for civil society leaders to meet and discuss their ideas for strengthening democracy in their parts of the world; CCD plans to hold diplomatic training workshops in Latin America, Asia, and Europe based on the Diplomat’s Handbook for Democracy Development Support; Members of the ISC/CD will be actively involved in the meetings of the CD Working Groups; and the CD’s 10th Anniversary meeting in Krakow will be an opportunity for the organization to relaunch itself to provide more effective support for democracy.