Community of Democraties

On the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Community of Democracies, eighty seven official delegations from around the world, including forty at the ministerial level, gathered In Krakow, Poland July 2-4 to reaffirm their commitment to democracy at the High Level Democracy Meeting (HLDM). Hosted by the Polish government and organized by the Permanent Secretariat of the Community of Democracies, the event drew official delegations from New Zealand, Chile, Indonesia, North America, Kenya and Europe as well as 200 civil society activists from Burma/Myanmar, Zimbabwe, China, Russia and Cuba, among others. The legendary Solidarity leader, Lech Wałesa, and former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright were among the guests. European, African and North American Parliamentarians convened in the newly formed Parliamentary Forum at the initiative of Lithuania, which currently holds the chairmanship of the Community of Democracies.

In addition to the Act of Recommitment to the Warsaw Declaration, the participants witnessed the awarding of the Geremek Award to Father Jose Conrado Rodriguez of Santa Teresita parish in Santiago de Cuba for his outstanding achievement in democracy promotion in Cuba. During her key note address on protecting civil society, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton announced the creation of a fund to assist democracy activists around the world. In Krakow, the Community of Democracies broadened its outreach with the launching of a youth segment, Young Diplomats for Democracy, and created a vital third pillar to represent the business sector in the form of the Corporate Democracy Forum. Six working groups developed recommendations for future work in various aspects of democracy promotion to create the Global Democracy Work Plan. Participants heard from leading authorities during the thematic panels on democracy activists, using new technologies to advance democracy, the impact of the financial crisis on democracy, and women’s role in democracy.

In the coming months, the Permanent Secretariat will work with all the governments, civil society and business community members represented by the Community of Democracies to realize the ideas and initiatives launched in Krakow. The next ministerial level meeting will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2011 year under the auspices of the Lithuanian chairmanship.

Documents from the High Level Democracy Meeting, Krakow 2010

1. Official Documents:
   1. Act of Recommitment to the Warsaw Declaration
   2. Global Democracy Work Plan
   3. Parliamentary Forum Recommendations to the GDWP
   4. Young Leaders Forum Recommendations to the GDWP
   5. Statement by the Working Group on Poverty, Development and Democracy
2. Official Speeches:
   1. Speech by H.E. Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State (as delivered)
   2. Speech by H.E. Audronius Azubalis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania (as prepared for delivery)
   3. Speech by H.E. Carl Bildt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden
   4. Speech by H.E. Dimitrios Droutsas, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece
   5. Speech by H.E. Ivan Baba, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
   6. Speech by H.E. Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament
   7. Speech by H.E. Bogdan Aurescu, Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs of Romania
3. Parliamentary Forum Resolutions:
   1. Final Resolution of Parliamentary Forum Krakow Meeting
   2. Calling for improvement of the political situation in Ukraine
   3. Calling for improvement of the political and civil society situation in Belarus
   4. Calling for support of Cuba’s pro-democracy movement
4. Press Releases:
   1. Corporate Democracy Forum
   2. Parliamentary Forum arranged its second meeting in Krakow
   3. Young Diplomats for Democracy call on Community of Democracies to Engage Youth
   4. International Steering Committee on Denial of Activists’ Participation in HLDM
5. Statements on the High Level Democracy Meeting:
   1. Statement by H.E. Barack Obama, President of the United States of America
   2. Statement by H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
   3. Message from H.E. William J. Clinton, former President of the United States of America
   4. Letter of support from H.E. Andrzej Halicki, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland
6. About the High Level Democracy Meeting:
   1. Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post – Democracy in trouble
   2. Tedd Piccone, Foreign Policy – Is the “D” Word Back in Style?
   3. Gregg Wallhauck, CIPE – Business and Democracy
   4. Marty M. Natalegawa, The Jakarta Post – Insight: Democracy should deliver results, better welfare
   5. Democracy Digest – Close Cuba’s ‘factory of prisoners’ – Geremek Award winner
   6. Democracy Digest – Clinton defends civil society from ‘critical threat to democracy’
   7. Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty - Top U.S. Human Rights Diplomat: 'Democracy Takes Time'
7. Youth dimension of the Community of Democracies
   1. Young Diplomats for Democracy Symposium
   2. Young Leaders Forum – Vilnius Declaration
   3. Young Leaders Forum – Krakow Declaration
   4. Young Leaders Forum – Resolution on Freedom of Expression
   5. Young Leaders Forum – Resolution on Cyprus

Photos from the High Level Democracy Meeting

Videos from the High Level Democracy Meeting

Music from the High Level Democracy Meeting