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European
Regional Workshop of Non-Governmental Process for the Community
of Democracies held in Prague, Czech Republic
October 27,
2004
The European Regional Workshop for the Non-Governmental Process
for the Community of Democracies was held last week in Prague,
the Czech Republic, on October 18th and 19th, as an associated
event of the Forum 2000 conference: “Bridging Global Gaps.”
Co-organized by the Executive Secretariat and Forum 2000, the
workshop began with a welcome from Jakub Klepal from Forum 2000
and an introduction to the CD process by Andrea Sanhueza on
behalf of the Executive Secretariat.
The workshop
was attended by 27 representatives from non-governmental organizations,
political parties, and political foundations from 10 countries
in the region. The Executive Secretariat was represented by
Andrea Sanhueza and Lea Sarles Newfarmer. Participants focused
their discussion on the regional democratic deficits that
were identified in the first meeting of the Non-Governmental
Process in Lisbon, and developed proposals on how governments
should address the following issues:
- Democratic
Crises, misuse of the fight against terrorism, and regional
conflicts
- Lack
of EU and member states involvement in global initiatives
that promote democracy, like the CD process, and inadequate
efforts to promote democracy assistance
- Weak
civil societies, lack of democratic culture, and problems
with democracy education
- Weak
or non-representative political parties
- Lack
of an independent media
- Discrimination
and Exclusion
- Corruption
and lack of accountability
The proposals
developed by participants will be compiled into a final report
that will be refined, along with the other regional reports,
in the final meeting of the Non-Governmental Process in Santiago,
Chile in January. The final version of these regional proposals
will be presented to the Governments in the Ministerial meeting
that will take place in May 2005 and will also be published
by the Executive Secretariat in 2005.
This
workshop was financially supported by the Czech and Chilean
Governments and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
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