Building consensus on Democracy Support

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Calendar

March

11 / The Convening Meeting oF the Community of Democracies Parliamentary Forum (Vilnius, EESC)

15 / Delivering Effective Political Party Assistance (Wilton Park, till 18/03)

April

11 / Conference: World Movement for Democracy on 'Solidarity across cultures: working together for democracy' (Jakarta, WMD, till 14/04)

September

15 / UN International Day of Democracy (The Hague, IPP, FDO, NIMD, House of Democracy, City of The Hague, EPD)

15 / Zimbabwe: Two Years of the Global Political Agreement (Brussels, EPD)

PROGRAMME SPONSORS

Vacancies

15 / 03 / 2010

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, NIMD (The Hague)
15 / 03 / 2010

Medical Programme Consultant, People in Need (DR Congo)
29 / 03 / 2010

Knowledge Officer, NIMD (The Hague)
31 / 12 / 2010

Internship at IPA (Poland)
31 / 12 / 2010

Internships at PASOS Secretariat (Prague)

REPORT from Prague conference “Building Consensus about EU Policies on Democracy Support”

The EPD has the honour of presenting you with the final report from the conference entitled “Building Consensus about EU Policies on Democracy Support”, which was organized by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission on March 9th and 10th, 2009, in Prague in collaboration with the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and the Czech Association for Democracy Assistance and Human Rights (DEMAS). On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Czech Republic hosted this international gathering in order to address the issue of the European approach to democracy assistance. The event was held under the auspices of Karel Schwarzenberg, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic.

The conference brought to Prague over one hundred and fifty democracy experts from EU institutions, Member States' governments, non-state democracy support organizations, policy centres, and civil society from third countries. Distinguished speakers represented the European Commission, the Secretariat of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament, representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Finland, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. Speakers and participants from the NGO sector included organizations from various European countries as well as voices from the target countries like Armenia, Lebanon, Malawi, Russia, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

The conference concentrated on the enhancement of the political commitment to supporting democracy in third countries on the part of the European Union and its Member States. The following report sets out the key recommendations gathered during the event, the background which galvanized the organization of this event, and the summary of sessions held during the conference.