Council for a Community of Democracies

The Fourth International Conference of the New or Restored Democracies
Cotonou December 4-6, 2000

PEACE, SECURITY, DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT
COTONOU DECLARATION

We, Ministers and Representatives of New or Restored Democracies meeting at the Fourth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies on Peace, Security , Democracy and Development in Cotonou, Republic of Benin from December 4 to 6, 2000,

Hereby express our collective support to the principles and goals of the United Nations Charter and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Mindful of the major changes that have occurred at the international level and the aspiration of all peoples for an international order based on the sacred principles of the United Nations Charter, specifically the reinforcement and the encouragement to stand for the respect of human rights and the fundamental liberties for all,

Reaffirm that peace, security , democracy, development and the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties are interrelated and mutually reinforcing on the one hand; and that democracy is based on the freely expressed wishes of people to determine the political, economic, social and cultural system that will be their own and on their full participation in all aspects of life within the society on the other,

Reaffirm also that all human rights, i.e. civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, should be promoted and protected in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments relating to human rights,

Recalling the Universal Declaration on Democracy adopted by the Council of the Interparliamentary Union held on September 1997,at the end of which democracy was declared as a universally recognized ideal and an objective based on common values to all peoples within the world community, irrespective of their cultural, political, social, and economic differences.

Recalling Vienna declaration and program of action ‘of June 1993 adopted by the world conference on human rights.

Referring to UN Resolution 53/243 of September13, 1999 of the General Assembly of the United Nations including the Declaration and the Programme of Action on a culture of peace which is closely linked to the promotion of democracy, the development and universal respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms.

Referring to:

--The Manila Declaration adopted in June 1988 by the First International Conference of New or Restored Democracies which reaffirms the indissoluble link between peace, democracy and development,

--The Managua Declaration and Plan of Action adopted in July 1994 by the Second International Conference of New or Restored Democracies which reiterates the decision’ to uphold and promote the universal right to democracy and development,

--The Final Document of Bucharest entitled «The review of the situation and recommendations» adopted in September 1997 by the Third International Conference of New or Restored Democracies which focussed on the inter-dependent relations between democracy, development and good governance,

--The Proceedings of the assessment Conference of National Conferences and other democratic transition processes in Africa held in Cotonou, February 2000 that took stock of democratic transition process and assessed the progress and shortcomings of democracy in Africa,

--The Warsaw Declaration adopted in June 2000 by the Community of Democracies which points out the relationships of inter-dependence between peace, development, human rights and democracy,

--The Millennium Declaration adopted in September 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly which reaffirms the universal principles and values of democracy, human rights and the fundamental freedoms and further formulates precise objectives for peace, security, disarmament, development, the elimination of poverty and the protection of the common environment,

--The Bamako Declaration adopted in November 2000 by member States of the International Organization of la Francophonie which proclaims the indissoluble links between la Francophonie and democracy and defines strategies for the consolidation of the rule of law abiding country and the monitoring of democratic practices within la Francophonie.

Considering the decisions 141 and 142 adopted in July 1999 by the Conference of Heads of States and Government of the Organization of African Unity related on the one hand to the principles of good governance, transparency and human rights which are essential to guarantee representative and stable governments and to contribute to conflict prevention; and on the other hand to the necessity to restore constitutional legality in member States whose governments came to power by unconstitutional means.

Adopt the following Declaration.

I. PEACE, SECURITY AND DISARMAMENT.

1- We solemnly reaffirm our commitment to the principles of national sovereignty in the internal affairs of each country , territorial integrity , political independence of States, and non intervention in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law.

2- We reaffirm our commitment to peacefully settle conflicts.

3- We also reaffirm the main responsibility of the United Nations Organization for the maintenance of international peace and security , and invite Member States to provide the Organization with the necessary means to reinforce its capacity in the areas of preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping and peace- restoring as well as peace building after conflicts and to increase its efficiency.

4- We earnestly invite Member States of the United Nations to resort to regional organizations, conventions and bodies to settle matters related to international peace and security in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

5- We urge regional organizations, and bodies to promote and reinforce closer. cooperation and coordination with the United Nations Organization in order to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security.

6- We reaffirm that disarmament, the control and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as well as the non-proliferation of light weapons can contribute significantly to international peace and security.

7- We invite all countries to adhere to and implement all international conventions related to disarmament and arms control.

8- We strongly condemn every form of international terrorism and the transnational crime in all its manifestations and commit ourselves to take individual and collective measures to fight them in accordance with the provisions of international law including human rights to prevent and to fight them.

9- We firmly support the civil society and the Non-Governmental Organizations in their work for peace, security , democracy, development and human right.

10- We commit ourselves to promote and reinforce in our respective countries as well as regional and global level a culture of peace, in pursuance of UN resolution 53/243 of September 13, 1999 of the General Assembly of the United Nations: «Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of peace » with a special focus during the forthcoming international decade for a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world (2001 - 2010) as proclaimed by resolution 53/25 of the General Assembly.

II. DEMOCRACY. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL LIBERTIES.

11- We recognise that democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms have improved in the world over the last ten years in spite of a few setbacks. It is therefore important to pursue our efforts in order to promote a democratic culture, reinforce the rule of law and the respect of all human rights and the fundamental liberties established by international law.

To this end, we recognize the relation between democracy and human right as embodied in the resolution entitled “promoting and consolidating democracy” adopted by United Nations Commission of Human rights on 25 April 2000 and by the United Nations General Assembly on 4 December 2000.

12- We solemnly reaffirm that the will of the people is the foundation of the powers vested in public authorities.

This will must be freely expressed through periodic and fair elections, free of intimidation with equal right to vote by secret ballot and under the supervision of an independent institution

13-We commit ourselves to:

Consolidate and deepen democracy by promoting political pluralism, the protection of rights and fundamental freedom.
Promote a greater participation of citizens, particularly women and including minority groups in the decision making process;
Guarantee the pre-eminence of the law and the separation of constitutional powers;
Promote good governance and fight corruption in our countries;
Secure the right for information, the independence and freedom of the media in due respect of other rights;
Develop and reinforce civic education so as to make citizens more conscious of their rights and duties the responsibilities of government institutions; consolidate and deepen democracy by promoting political pluralism and the protection of right and fundamental liberties;
Contribute to the emergence and the strengthening of a well-organized, strong and free civil society which is a basic element for democracy which take into account the unique characteristic of each civil society.

14- We strongly condemn every form of terrorism and military coups against democratic and freely elected governments, every form of anti-democratic accession to power as well as every unconstitutional change of government.

15- We reaffirm the obligation of authorities to give account of their actions and deeds

16- We commit ourselves to promote a democratic culture in every dimension and in the full respect of human rights.

17- We solemnly reaffirm that:

human rights and the fundamental freedoms are inherent to every human being;
all human rights, including the right to development, are universal, inter-dependent and closely linked;
all human rights must be promoted and be protected in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and others main relevant international human rights instruments.

18- We commit ourselves to:

Fulfill our obligations as laid down in international human rights instruments, notably those obligations related to the follow-up mechanisms established by those instruments to ensure their implementation;
promote and facilitate the ratification of all human rights treaties and protocol adopted by the United Nations and regional organizations;
promote education in our countries for human rights and a culture of peace, as led down in international and regional human rights instruments;
secure appropriate treatment to refugees, repatriates, migrant workers and displaced people in accordance with the relevant provisions stipulated by the international humanitarian law.

19- Democracy is not confined to an internal process in each country. Democratization of international relations and of the decision-making process in international organizations and institutions is a necessary prerequisite for a sound, just and equitable world order.

20- We urgently request the pursuit and spreading of activities undertaken by the United Nations system, member countries, other inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations so as to promote and consolidate democracy within the framework of international cooperation and to institute a democratic political culture based on the promotion and the respect of human right, the mobilization of the civil society and other appropriate means to support democratic government election.

III. DEVELOPMENT, ELIMINA TION OF POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENT

21- We acknowledge that the right to development as established by international law is universal and inalienable, and is part of the fundamental rights of the human being who is the central subject of development

22- We also acknowledge that each country has the inalienable right to determine the form and means of its development.

23- We recognize that poor countries are confronted with great difficulties in ensuring sustainable development and eliminating poverty and that international inequalities diminish effort of the least developed and medium income countries to realize their development.

24- Consequently, we commit ourselves, among other things to:

create at national and international levels favorable conditions for a sustainable development by promoting specifically good governance, rule of law and the fight against all types of corruption, and reforming the international financial system;
pool our efforts to secure economic and social development, namely the elimination of poverty which is a factor of promotion and preservation of a democratic development. The elimination of poverty as a primordial objective goes in line with a multi-sectorial perspective comprising social development. The above objective can be achieved through improvement of the priority sectors such as education, health, food security , supply of drinking water and housing;
promote a fair and sustainable development free from any violence, in order to secure full equality between men and women, mindful of human rights and favorable to a complete and harmonious development of human being whi1e taking into account the cultural specificities of every society;
promote the economic independence of women and guarantee the full exercise of their economic, political, social rights and responsibilities ;
prevent and eliminate every form of violence against women, girls and children;
give the highest attention to the right of children, protection, development and survival, namely by preventing and eliminating all forms of child exploitation and by stopping their recruitment as soldiers and by effectively eliminating all forms of child labor in accordance with international rules.
give special attention to the training of the youth and their participation in democratic life.

25- We urge States and international organizations to support in a significant manner our efforts in this matter.

26- We commit ourselves to work for the eradication of endemic diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria which are not only a public health problem but also a serious threat to development.

27- We support every initiative aiming at facilitating or cancelling the foreign debt of poor countries and encourage all initiatives aimed at finding durable solutions to the debt burden of new and restored democracies.

28- We invite States and international financial institutions to grant to our countries a more substantial development aid based on our priorities and needs.

29- We commit ourselves to :

Cooperate in solving environmental problems by laying emphasis on a participative approach aiming at the integration of the objectives of Agenda 21 relating to national policies and strategies for a sustainable development.
Establish and strengthen early warning and rapid assistance mechanisms to alleviate the effects of natural disasters upon the request of the governments of the affected countries.

--Note the undeniable progress made by our countries in the democratization process,

--Are convinced that a coordination of national, regional and international actions is a requirement for greater efficiency,

--Acknowledge the need for a closer sub-regional, regional and international cooperation to consolidate and accelerate the democratization process not only in our countries but also at the international level.

We recommend the following:

To civil society organizations

1- to take every appropriate measure to strengthen their cooperation at sub- regional, regional and national level with their counterparts from other countries.

To the private sector

2- to promote initiatives at the regional or international level to strengthen democracy in every region in the world.

To donor countries and the international community

3- to grant greater priority to resource allocation in support of good governance, democracy, and participation of civil society;

4- to alleviate substantially the burden of debt of new or restored democracies;

5- to coordinate their work on the relationship between democratization, development and good governance with the new or restored democracies;

6- to organize joint conferences where representatives of government, parliamentarians, local elected representatives and representatives of non-governmental organizations could meet to discuss matters related to democratization;

7- to assist at their request new or restored democracies, with the support of international institutions and the academic world, in establishing indicators that will permit the follow up of progress achieved in the democratization process.

To the United Nations system

8- To promote a greater dialogue and to pursue its efforts to better apprehend questions related to democracy in a spirit of cooperation.

9- To resort more extensively to local expertise in developing countries.

10- To work in close collaboration with various local actors in order to promote and strengthen democratic culture

11- To create a data bank on democratic development which would gather information on fundamental issues on democracy.

12- To create a data file of experts specialized in fundamental issues on democracy, especially experts from new or restored democracies.

13- To elaborate and develop within the United Nations System integrated assistance programs to democracy which should be coordinated within the United Nations system with the use of extra budgetary resources

14- To mobilize funds to implement integrated programs and common strategies with the objectives of promoting and strengthening democratic development

15- To grant as far as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are concerned assistance to democratic reforms that suit the conditions and needs in each country;

16- To pursue as far as the United Nations are concerned the examination of new ideas and suggestions regarding democracy and good governance made by governments and representatives of the academic world and the civil society.

Follow-up mechanism

In order to implement the above recommendations we urge

The President of the fourth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies to strengthen the follow-up mechanism created after the third International Conference.

We therefore urge the United Nations Secretary General to consider establishing a focal point within the United Nations System to help coordinate member states’ efforts to consolidate democracy .and to assist the follow up mechanism of the fourth International Conference on New or Restored Democracies.

The follow-up mechanism is responsible for assisting upon request new or restored democracies in:

17- drawing a list of objectives for the democratization programs, and a schedule showing possible indicators to assess their implementation;

18- drawing a list of acceptable indicators likely to be used by the participating countries;

19- identifying and helping new and restored democracies participate in the United Nations system programs that deal with issues related to democratization and good governance;

20- promoting and strengthening a sub-regional and regional framework for the democratization programs;

21- studying the democratic conditions required to attract investments and encourage the democratization efforts;

22- identifying and implementing programs focusing on human beings and not on institutions only.

Cotonou. December 6. 2000