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Network of Democracy Assistance Foundations
The Network of Democracy Assistance Foundations met in Berlin June 24-26. Organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and co-sponsored by the four other German party-affiliated foundations, the conference (titled "Making Democracy Sustainable") marked the fifth time the network has met since it was originally convened in 1993 at the request of the U.S. Congress. There were approximately 75 participants and observers from 20 countries, including nine-Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States-- that have publicly-supported, nongovernmental assistance foundations. The opening panel featured representatives of political parties and non-governmental organizations in Hungary, Russia, Kenya, Mongolia, and the Philippines that have been the recipients of assistance. Following the panel discussions, participants met with German President Johannes Rau and Deputy Bundestag Speaker Anke Fuchs, both of whom paid tribute to the important work that the foundations are doing to promote democracy.
Johannes Rau, President of the Federal Republic of Germany
Reception of the Participants of the International Conference of "Institutions for the Promotion of Democracy" Bellevue Castle Tuesday, June 26, 2001 Welcome to Bellevue Castle. Your dialogue concerning the global promotion of democracy takes place in Germany this year for the first time. No other city would be a better symbol of the defeat of dictatorship and the division of Europe than Berlin. I am happy to welcome you at my official residence today. I whole-heartedly support your goals and efforts to achieve a closer co-operation of the foundations. Those who encourage democracy secure peace - or facilitate peace there where societies live without it, because its citizens do not benefit from elementary rights. Democracy lets societies breath. Therefore democracy is much more than an "institutional political order". In Germany and major parts of Europe democracy for a long time was not to be taken for granted. Even after 1945 dictatorial and authoritarian systems continued to exist or began to dominate in Eastern Europe, in some Western European countries and in many countries in Latin America and Asia. The support some of those regimes even got from the West is not a glorious chapter in the history of democracy. Let me mention just two dates in history to underline the process of change: the Portuguese Revolution in 1974 and the historical transformations in Central Europe and Germany in 1989, which was a great opportunity and the beginning of the process of democratisation. Finally the wave of peaceful revolutions reached Asia. I still marvel because Kim Dae Jung came to see me at the occasion of an official visit last year. I still remember the times I sent him letters while he was in prison. We have to establish a united democratic Europe now. A constitution is to be set up today. A constitution is the "grammar of freedom" with rules all parties involved agree upon, in spite of different origins in terms of regions, cultures or democratic traditions. I am happy to see that democracy is booming. I am also happy to note that the political foundations in Germany have often played a particular role in that process. They have become examples for the foundation of similar institutions in other countries. The basis of the work of the foundations is the conviction that the self-determination of the individual is closely and unconditionally connected with the social obligations of politics and the economy. The social responsibility of capital and property has got its traditions in Germany, too: We want to link the benefits of the market to the abolishment of social injustice. I am convinced: Without that link, as history has shown, there will be violent conflicts time and again. Social market economy is, like democracy, a societal peace strategy. People have asked repeatedly, whether globalisation allows for a socially-oriented market economy at all. But a nation is always more than a business location. And only if it is "more", a country will be economically interesting, too. This implies a grown culture of togetherness, deeply rooted social peace and the individual's chance to freely develop. Economic considerations and democratic values must not be played off against each other. A productive dialogue needs to be initiated. Without competition there is no economy. Competition, however, must not be the guiding principle in all sectors of our societies. Thus, an economic order - be it a national, European or global one - will only be sustainable, if it is able to support the tension between economic liberty and social justice. To give support in this respect is one of the main tasks of the political foundations you are representing. You are experienced and provide of the knowledge needed to organise the establishment of democracy. You know your local partners best. Your offices on the spot assist them and have them participate in a process of international co-operation. Political foundations, however, do not only matter with respect to co-operation and their partners abroad. What they do in other countries counts at home, too. We are living in the "global village". Thus we need more contact and connection than ever. We cannot solve our problems alone. We need the exchange with others. We must know what moves and motivates people who make decisions in other countries, what guides their action and judgements. I would like to thank you for the important work you do. May it be furthermore successful in the future. |
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