Confronting the Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century
Second World Assembly
November 12-15, 2000
São Paulo, Brazil
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President of Brazil
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Democracy Assistance Foundations: Programmatic Challenges
Organizers:
Centre for Democratic Institutions (Australia)
Institute for National Policy Research (Taiwan)
National Endowment for Democracy (U.S.)
Rapporteur:
David Lowe (U.S.)
National Endowment for Democracy
Moderator:
Carl Gershman (U.S.)
National Endowment for Democracy
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Presenters:
Barbara Haig (U.S.)
National Endowment for Democracy
Michael Kau (Taiwan)
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
Axel Queval (France)
Jean Jaures Foundation
Roland Rich (Australia)
Centre for Democratic Institutions
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The democracy assistance foundations - defined generally as nongovernmental, publicly supported institutions that provide technical and material support for democratic initiatives-have met several times during the past decade. At the Inaugural Assembly of the World Movement in New Delhi in 1999, a workshop on democracy assistance focused on how to expand this network. In fact, as emphasized during the workshop at the Second Assembly in São Paulo, several new institutions have been established since the New Delhi Assembly. In addition, in a videotaped message to the São Paulo Assembly, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian announced the forthcoming creation of a new democracy assistance foundation there.
At the workshop in São Paulo, in keeping with the theme of the Assembly, the focus shifted to the programmatic challenges democracy assistance foundations face. There was an extraordinarily wide range of experience represented at the workshop, including individuals affiliated with an array of democracy-support institutions: some grant-making, others more operational; some oriented toward NGOs, others more party-oriented; some relatively new, others more established. The participants reflected a diversity of cultures and nationalities. Most importantly for a discussion of this nature, there was a good mixture of grant-makers and recipients. At the workshop in New Delhi in 1999, the point was made that it is not enough for donors to talk among themselves; rather, they must be sensitized to the needs of recipients. This was, in fact, one of the main themes of the workshop in São Paulo.
Programmatic Challenges
- How can democracy assistance foundations more effectively consider the needs of recipients?
- How can foundations avoid "triumphalism" in their work?
- How can foundations insure that the groups they fund are sustainable, that they have local roots, and that they are not entirely dependent on the support of outside foundations?
- How do we insure that those with whom we are working are truly democratic?
- How can foundations increase the total number of democrats?
- How can foundations increase the skills of those who are already committed to democracy?
- How can foundations make effective programmatic choices with limited resources?
- How can foundations help grassroots democrats cope with the twin challenges of poverty and globalization?
- How can foundations develop a sufficient supply of experts who are prepared to provide effective support in the field?
- How do we make the most of our previous success in expanding the network of democracy assistance foundations?
Recommended Strategies
- Develop true partnerships between grant-makers and those receiving assistance.
- Ensure that the work of democracy assistance foundations is totally transparent, including being forthright with grantees about the assistance process.
- Be aware of the fact that there is no single model of democracy. Be sensitive to cultural differences without abandoning the idea that democracy is a universal value; recognize that standards cannot be lowered without patronizing recipients and sending them the wrong message.
- Do not neglect the critical work of political parties. While helping parties build their capabilities, do not isolate them from civil society; their ties to grassroots groups that can strengthen their legitimacy and accountability, for instance, is a necessity. Similarly, civil society depends upon strong political parties, since only parties can channel citizen participation and demands into effective policies.
- Helping NGOs to become self-sufficient should be a priority in providing assistance.
- Do not exclude new donors from the network of assistance foundations that may not conform entirely to the model of nongovernmental, publicly funded organizations.
- Develop training programs for those who can offer technical assistance.
- Develop ways to bring experiences from the developing world into the pool of ideas about how best to offer assistance.
- Apply the model of East-to-East programs developed in Central and Eastern Europe to other regions of the world, such as South-to-South cooperation.
- Share our ideas and information with one another on an ongoing basis by . . .
- organizing the information on our respective Web sites to make it usable for all (for instance, by region);
- developing a compendium of what has and has not worked programmatically and post it on a Web site;
- choosing specific countries, perhaps one in each region, where foundations might cooperate and develop joint programs.
The Secretariat of the World Movement has created a section of its Web site for the Network of Democracy Assistance Foundations.
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