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For printed copies of this report contact: World Movement for Democracy 1025 F Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004 USA Tel: (202) 378-9700 Fax: (202) 378-9890 world@ned.org |
PRESS RELEASESFor Immediate ReleaseJanuary 16, 2004 Contacts: Jane Riley Jacobsen: jane@ned.org; Tel: +1-202-293-9072 (till Jan 28) then 084-444-0493 Jean Freedberg: jfreedberg@ndi.org, Tel: +1-202-728-5527 (till Jan 21) then 084-444-0094 World Movement for Democracy to Meet in Durban Hundreds of Democracy Activists Will Convene February 1-4, 2004 The World Movement for Democracy will convene on February 1-4, 2004 in Durban, South Africa, for its Third Assembly. “Building Democracy for Peace, Development and Human Rights,” is the theme of the Assembly, which will take place at the International Convention Centre in Durban. More than 600 democracy activists, practitioners, and scholars from more than 100 countries in every region of the world, including Belarus, Burma, China, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Liberia, Mongolia, Serbia and Venezuela will discuss practical solutions to a wide range of challenges. In more than 40 workshops, participants will explore how to expand and strengthen democracy in their countries and in their regions of the world; how to strengthen civic groups, political parties and the media; how to increase accountability of political institutions; and how to use civic education and culture as a means of promoting democratic values. Other areas of discussion include increasing women’s participation, the challenges of working in conflict-ridden societies, transitional justice, among others. Three South African partner organizations—the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD, www.accord.org.za), the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS, www.cps.org.za), and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA, www.idasa.org.za)—are working with the World Movement Secretariat to organize the Assembly. A highlight of the event will be the presentation of the World Movement’s Democracy Courage Tributes at the John B. Hurford Memorial Dinner on February 4. Recipients will be: the Democracy Movement in Sudan; the Mano River Union Civil Society Movement; the Democracy Movement in Belarus; and two groups working for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) and the Panorama Center. Initiated in 1999 to “strengthen democracy where it is weak, to reform and invigorate democracy even where it is longstanding, and to bolster pro-democracy groups in countries that have not yet entered into a process of democratic transition," the World Movement is a global network that meets periodically to exchange ideas and experiences and uses new information and communication technologies to foster collaboration among democratic forces around the world. The World Movement is governed by a distinguished international Steering Committee, and the Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) currently serves as its Secretariat. |
