Promoting Democratic Consolidation through Education for Democracy

The concept of "education for democracy" is one of the core principles of the Community of Democracies. The Warsaw Declaration, issued by the Ministerial Conference in Warsaw, Poland that founded the Community of Democracies in June 2000, included a pledge "to promote government-to-government and people-to-people linkages and [to] promote civic education and literacy, including education for democracy," and this commitment has been reaffirmed repeatedly by successive Ministerial Declarations of the Community. From 2003-2008, CCD organized a series of consultations with international experts on education, representatives of Ministries of Education, and other civil society leaders to develop the Global Strategic Plan for Democracy Education.

In July 2011, Mongolia assumed the Chair of the Community of Democracies, which it will hold from 2011-13. In September, at the meeting of the United Nations Democracy Caucus, the President of Mongolia announced that Democracy Education would be the priority theme of its chairmanship. This decision came after years of advocacy for democracy education by CCD, which has consistently emphasized democracy education as an essential element of successful long-term consolidation of democratic transition.

CCD has been asked by the Mongolian Chair to be an active participant in its emphasis on Democracy Education, which will include the following elements:

• Establishment of a Working Group on Democracy Education to be co-chaired by Mongolia and Poland
• Organization of two major international conferences on democracy education in 2012
• Promotion of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Democracy Education
• CCD's development of an international network of civil society education experts to contribute to this process

In 2012, CCD worked with the Mongolian governement to develop the agenda for the May 2012 Ulaanbaatar International Seminar on Education for Democracy. CCD will also prepare for the January 2013 conference in India, which will provide a forum for policymakers to discuss issues of democracy education.

Recent News and Updates

	10 May 2013 CCD Organizes Democracy Education Panel for Civil Society Forum at VII CD Ministerial in Ulaanbaatar CCD brought together experts from the nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies (ISC/CD) with representatives from civil society organizations in El Salvador and Mongolia to discuss democracy education initiatives. To read more about CCD's activities at the VII CD Ministerial in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, please click here.
	28 March 2013 Mukti Rijal Discussses Democracy Education CCD Charlottesville Conference on Democracy Education participant Mukti Rijal has published an article in The Rising Nepal entitled “Democracy Education Vital for Sustaining Democratic Aptitudes.” The article discusses the importance of a comprehensive approach to democracy education that contributes to the long-term development of functioning democratic institutions. Such an approach involves not only teaching about democratic values but also encouraging critical thinking and civic engagement. Rijal notes that democracy education depends as much on the structure of the school system as it does on the curriculum taught. Participatory classrooms, he says, are vital to fostering and sustaining a culture of democracy. To read the article, please click here.
	22 March 2013 CCD Brings Democracy Education Experts to Charlottesville CCD’s Democracy Education initiative was given a big lift with the conclusion of the March 11-12 Charlottesville Conference, “Creating a Culture of Democracy through Education: A Strategy for Policymakers,” that brought together 29 experts from 19 countries. It led to the adoption of a four page Charlottesville Declaration that CCD plans to introduce into the Community of Democracies Ulaanbaatar Ministerial Conference at the end of April. For more information about the conference, please click here.
	04 March 2013 Carnegie’s Muhammad Faour Discusses Democracy Education in the Arab World The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a series of three articles on the role of citizenship education in the Arab world by Muhammad Faour. Faour is a non-resident scholar for the Carnegie Middle East Center and specializes in citizenship education. To read more, please click here.
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