Activities of the Council for a Community of Democracies

Regional Roundtables

Thanks to a grant awarded in 2009 by the United Nations Democracy Fund, CCD will be organizing five regional roundtables around the world for civil society leaders to meet and discuss their ideas on how to strengthen democracy prior to the Vilnius Ministerial in 2011. The first of these five regional roundtables was held in February in Pretoria, South Africa to discuss the state of democracy in Africa. A report, based on the discussions and recommendations of conference participants, may be found here.

CD Ministerial Conferences

Ministerial conferences are held bi-annually and hosted by the CD Chair’s home country.  They are an opportunity for representatives of Foreign Ministries from all around the world to meet and discuss the ways in which they can cooperate to support the development and consolidation of democracy worldwide.  Civil society leaders from across the globe are also invited to participate in the conferences, reflecting the critical role of the non-governmental process in the CD’s operations. The last Ministerial was held in Lisbon, Portugal at the culmination of its CD chairmanship in July, 2009. The current chair of the CD is Lithuania, who will hold the next ministerial conference in its capital, Vilnius, in 2011. The CD's 10th Anniversary High Level Meeting, hosted by the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland with the Permanent Secretariat of the Community of Democracies, is scheduled for July 2-4, 2010 and will play a integral role in revitalizing the CD.

A Diplomat’s Handbook

Whereas once the conduct of diplomatic relations was strictly on a state-to-state basis, today, ambassadors and diplomats are much more likely to engage the public of the host countries, rather than government officials. Embassies and Consulates are ready vehicles and brokers promoting contact and communications between the peoples and nongovernmental organizations and groups of the sending and host countries. Democracy development and human rights are among the most active topics of such communications. The diplomat’s handbook serves as a tool to guide diplomats with case-based recommendations on how to assist civil society with democracy and human rights promotion. 

A Diplomat’s Handbook for Democracy Development Support is meant to present a wide variety of case studies documenting and explaining specific country experiences. It also identifies creative, human, and material resources available to Missions, the ways in which Missions and diplomats have supported requests in the past, and describes how such support has been applied.  A review of these experiences bears out the validity of our belief in our inter-dependence. It will hopefully also provide practitioners with encouragement, counsel, and a greater capacity to support democrats everywhere.

Democracy Education

CCD’s efforts to promote democracy education have culminated in a series of conferences held at the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.  These conferences brought together the nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies (ISC/CD) with representatives of national ministries of education, multilateral organizations, and education policy experts from around the world.  Participants developed national, regional, and international implementation plans to be presented to governments within the Community of Democracies, including plans for partnership between governments and civil society in strengthening democracy education.

International Steering Committee

Comprised of 25 civil society leaders from all regions of the world, the nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies (ISC/CD) is an active, independent component of the Community of Democracies that makes the CD unique among international organizations. Civil society, through the ISC/CD, plays a key role in the function of the CD, consulting with the CD Chair, the Convening Group, and the Permanent Secretariat to propose initiatives, identify threats to democracy, and develop strategies for promoting democracy more effectively. The ISC/CD places an emphasis on including activists from established democracies as well as countries facing challenges to their democratic institutions and those suffering under authoritarian systems, ensuring that the wide array of civil society needs is considered.

Past CCD Activities

To learn more about CCD’s past activities, including its participation in the Community of Democracies’ seminar on the implications of the global economic and financial crisis on democratic governance and the Asia Roundtable of the Community of Democracies non-governmental process, click here.