In Santiago, Chile, in April of 2005, the Community of Democracies met for the third time in its short but incredibly productive history. Before the meeting could take place, government representatives of the Ten Convening Countries met to plan the ministerial conference, while NGO representatives from the Convening Countries coordinated planning for the NGO Forum through the good offices of the Chilean NGO host organization supported in the United States by the Council for a Community of Democracies, located in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Coordinating Committee, which it chairs. You can find more information about the Conference - before, during, and after - in the pages below.

I. The Conference

• Ministerial meeting of the Community of Democracies (April 28 - 30, 2005). A civil society forum will be developed for the Ministerial meeting. This will be the opportunity to interact with both civil society organizations and with governments.
• Final NGO Proposals for Ministerial Consideration at the April Community of Democracies Ministerial Conference.
  • For those portions of these extensive proposals that deal with CCD issues, click here.
• Working Groups: new Ministerial/NGO cooperative efforts
• Community of Democracies Santiago Ministerial Commitment "Cooperating For Democracy"
• Rice addresses Community of Democracies' opening plenary in Chile
• Attendees at conference
  

II. Before Santiago

• Planning and coordination meeting with regional partners (held in January 2004 in Lisbon, Portugal). The main results of the meeting were the agreement on institutions to be the regional coordinators for the non-governmental process, and the definition of a work plan for 2004. Details of the regional planning can be found in the web site.
• UN General Assembly Meeting in New York, Sept. 22, 2004: Chair's Press Communiqué from the Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies
• Regional Workshops (June 2004 – January 2005). According to the agreements reached in the Lisbon meeting, regional partners will organize workshops to define regional proposals that will be presented in Santiago. These workshops are a key step for the elaboration of the final recommendations for governments.
  • European Regional Workshop
  • Asian Regional Workshop
  • African Regional Workshop
  • Latin American Regional Workshop
  • North American Regional Workshop
• Final meeting of the preparatory process (March 3 - 4, 2005, Santiago). The purpose of this meeting is to agree on the final document with proposals and recommendations for governments, taking into account regional specificities.
• Influence on the official negotiation process (December 2004 -March 2005). This stage will be carried out by the Secretariat and by the regional partners. The goal is to advocacy and lobby with governments for them to include civil society aspirations in their Plan of Action.
• Convening Group Issues Invitations to Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies (March 24, 2005)
  • Credentials process for invitees
• Santiago Ministerial Commitment "Cooperating for Democracy" April 30, 2005

III. Moving Beyond Santiago...

• Plans are underway to hold the 2007 Community of Democracies Conference in Bamako, Mali. For more information about the Bamako conference, click here.
• The development of the International Centre for Democracy Transition (ICDT) in Budapest , Hungary gained momentum at the Santiago Conference.  The Centre     began operation in the summer of 2005, and information on its initial projects will be available in the coming months .
• Steps are being taken to prepare for a possible Ministerial of the Community of Democracies and its UN Democracy Caucus at the Opening Debate of UN General Assembly in September 2005. Those convened at the Ministerial would focus on the UN Secretary-General's plans for reform of the UN, particularly regarding   human rights issues and the establishment of a Human Rights Council, to include only those nations with demonstrated commitment to the advancement of human rights.