Governing Council (Formerly the Convening Group)

On September 22, 2011, the Governing Council of the Community of Democracies was formally convened for the first time in New York. As specified in Vilnius Declaration, the Governing Council was created to replace the Convening Group. The Governing Council will be overseen by an Executive Committee, the new decision-making body. The Governing Council was established in order to increase the efficiency, scope and activities of the Community of Democracies.

The Governing Council is currently comprised of 25 member countries: Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Finland, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United States, and Uruguay.

The Executive Committee is: El Salvador, Lithuania, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States.

High-level attendees from the inaugural meeting included: President of Mongolia Elbegdorj Tsakhia, Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Alfredo Moreno, El Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugo Roger Martinez Bonilla, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Azubalis, Mongolian Minister of Foreign Affairs Zandanshatar Gombojav, Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs Paulo Portas, Finnish Minister of International Development Heidi Hantala, Romanian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Romulus Doru Cosita, Cape Verdean State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jose Luis Rocha, Slovakian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Milan Jezovica, Italian Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs Vincenzo Scotti, Polish Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs Grażyna Bernatowicz, and US Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman.

The inaugural meeting of the Governing Council included presentations by Community of Democracies Working Groups and the Democracy Partnership Challenge Task Forces for Moldova and Tunisia.             

Please see below for the remarks delivered at the Governing Council’s inaugural meeting:
Governing Council Decision on membership 
Reform of Community of Democracies Governance 
Statement by President of Mongolia Tsakhia Elbegdorj
Opening remarks by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia  Gombojav Zandanshatar 
Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Audronius Azubalis
Statement by Under Secretary of State of Italy Vincenzo Scotti
Statement by Under Secretary of State of Poland Grażyna Bernatowicz
Remarks by Under Secretary of State of the United States Wendy Sherman
Statement by Ambassador for Democracy of Sweden Maria Leissner
Statement by Director General for International Organizations, Human Rights and Democracy of the MFA of Canada David Angell
Statement by Director General for International Organizations of the MFA of the Republic of Korea Paik Ji-ah
Statement by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki