World Movement for Democracy is an international network of individuals and organizations who share the common goal of promoting
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...
. The World Movement was launched in February 1999 when the
National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and two nongovernmental organizations in India brought together a cross-section of democracy activists, practitioners, and scholars from over 80 countries in New Delhi
for discussions of ways to advance democracy. The participants adopted a Founding Statement launching the World Movement "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." It is intended to unite the global community of democracy advocates and practitioners; to facilitate exchanges of information, knowledge, and experiences; and to build cross-border solidarity. The World Movement is led by an international steering committee, and NED currently serves as its secretariat.
A "network of networks", the World Movement has led to the establishment of regional networks, including the
African Democracy Forum (ADF), the Latin America and Caribbean Network for Democracy (LAC Network), and the
World Forum for Democratization in Asia The World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA) was set up in 2005 to enhance political development and conduct democracy promotion activities in Asia. WFDA's secretariat is based in Taipei, Taiwan at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD). WF ...
(WFDA), as well as functional global networks, including the Global Network on Local Governance (GNLG), the International Women’s Democracy Network (IWDN), the
Network of Democracy Research Institutes (NDRI), and the
World Youth Movement for Democracy
The World Youth Movement for Democracy (WYMD) was created in 2004 at the Third Assembly of the World Movement in Durban South Africa by an international body of young democracy and human rights activists. WYMD is a branch of the World Movement for ...
(WYMD).
The World Movement has held five global assemblies
since its founding in New Delhi in 1999: São Paulo, Brazil (2000); Durban, South Africa (2004); Istanbul, Turkey (2006); Kyiv, Ukraine (2008); and Jakarta, Indonesia (2010). It has also initiated two major projects
as a result of assembly discussions: The Defending Civil Society project was launched in 2006 in collaboration with the
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) to respond to efforts among an increasing number of governments to close down civil society space, particularly for democracy and human rights groups, through new “NGO laws” and restrictions on international funding.
References
External links
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{{Election Organizations
Organizations based in Washington, D.C.
National Endowment for Democracy