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Supporting the Summit for Democracy 2023

March 22, 2023 • By Lisa-Marie Dalke
Africa and West Asia Asia & the Pacific Latin America & the Caribbean Europe North America

International IDEA views the Summit for Democracy as a strategic opportunity to place democracy at the front and center of the global agenda. The war in Ukraine underscores, even more, the need for democracies to stand united in the face of authoritarian threats. International IDEA has therefore developed a strategic engagement programme (2021-2023) around the Summits for Democracy process. 

 

In December 2021, the U.S. Government hosted the first of two Summits for Democracy. In the face of challenges to democracy globally, they aim to bring together government, civil society and private sector leaders to form a global agenda for democratic renewal.  A second Summit will be held on 29 and 30 March 2023, co-hosted by the governments of the United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and Zambia. The Summit events will showcase progress made by governments on their commitments during the ‘Year of Action’ and the work of the 16 multistakeholder ‘Democracy Cohorts’. International IDEA is involved in the Summit events taking place in Costa Rica, Zambia, and the Netherlands. 

International IDEA contributes to the Summit for Democracy Process through knowledge production, data and analysis, dialogues and partnership building. In its work, International IDEA aims to foster and facilitate civil society and multi-stakeholder engagement in the Summit for Democracy with democracy organizations from across the world. As co-coordinator of the Global Democracy Coalition, International IDEA is organising the Partners for Democracy Day on 27 March 2023 with more than 60 events around the world to place issues on the agenda of the Summit. 

​ International IDEA further maintains the Summit for Democracy News and Resources Portal, funded by the European Union. The Portal includes a dashboard of the verbal and written commitments and the implementation progress made by the 98 countries. Just recently added, it now also provides an easy overview of all the 16 democracy cohorts and their work. International IDEA is also the co-lead of two of the Democracy Cohorts – the Cohort on Youth Political and Civic Engagement and the Cohort on Gender Equality as a Pre-Requisite for Democracy. 

 

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A full overview of International IDEA’s support to the Summit of Democracy 2021-2023 can be found here.  

Strategic Engagement and Activities

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This work is conducted by various teams, based in Brussels, Stockholm, Washington D.C., and Addis Ababa, with support from International IDEA Member States, and grants from the European Union and the Robert Bosch Foundation. With ‘Supporting Team Europe Democracy – Strengthening democracy evidence and communication around the Summit for Democracy’ (STED), the European Union collaborates with International IDEA to foster civil society engagement in the Summit and monitor outcomes. Activities on democracy data collection are carried out by International IDEA, European Partnership for Democracy and Reporters Without Borders. The project supports the global Team Europe Democracy initiative that was launched in 2021 by the European Commission and EU Member States. The Robert Bosch Foundation provides financial support to the Global Democracy Coalition, with more than 100 partner organizations, a multistakeholder platform on democracy convened by International IDEA to engage with the Summit for Democracy. 

International IDEA News on the Summit For Democracy

Media

March 24, 2023

What is the public perception of Nepal’s #SummitForDemocracy commitments?

A video on Nepal’s commitments developed by Accountability Lab for International IDEA, focusing on public knowledge and perceptions and giving recommendations for improvement.
March 31, 2023

Democracy is only alive when young people are full participants and equal leaders

Kevin Casas-Zamora's message for the #SummitforDemocracy Costa Rica Regional Summit.
March 27, 2023

Kevin Casas-Zamora's message for the Global Democracy Coalition's #Partners4Democracy Day 2023

"The serious and global threats facing democracy today can only be addressed through collective action that puts citizens at the center."

Photos

On 21 October 2022, STED invited representatives of Moldovan civil society and government to the country-level Dialogue "What now? Supporting the Summit for Democracy process in Moldova.". The Dialogue explored Moldova’s Summit commitments, with a particularly focus on anti-corruption.
Participants of the Dialogue in Moldova discuss how to draft model commitments on elections and youth political participation.
“I hope that the most inclusive elements of the Summit for Democracy can be sustained. Because just as civil society has been critical for the success of the Summit, so too is civil society critical for the success of democracy.”, Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General of International IDEA.
Julia Keutgen, STED Programme Manager, presents International IDEA’s research on the work of the 16 Democracy Cohorts. The Cohorts bring together a diverse group of stakeholders from government and civil society to support the implementation of Summit for Democracy commitments in their area of interest.
International IDEA is a proud co-lead of the Youth Democracy Cohort, together with the European Commission, EPD, EDYN, Africtivistes, Costa Rica, Nepal, and Ghana. The co-leads introduce the Cohort’s initiatives to promote youth political and civic engagement globally.
Rumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu, International IDEA’s Senior Advisor for Democracy and Inclusion, explains why gender equality is a prerequisite for democracy. International IDEA is the co-lead of the Gender Cohort, together with the Georgetown University, Romania, and Sweden.
Civil society representatives at the Global Democracy Coalition Forum 2023 share why their organisation joined the Summit Democracy process.
Civil society representatives at the Global Democracy Coalition Forum 2023 exchange idea on how to ensure accountability of countries’ Summit commitments and how to create an inclusive Summit process.
The country-level Dialogue “What now? Supporting the Summit for Democracy process in Kenya” took place on 26 October 2022. Participants discussed the implementation of Kenya’s Summit commitments.
The Dialogue was opened by Line Urban, European Union Delegation to Kenya, and Frankline Mukwanja, Centre for Multiparty Democracy Kenya. They emphasized the importance of engaging the youth in public participation in a meaningful manner.
On 18 October 2022, participants of the country-level Dialogue “What now? Supporting the Summit for Democracy process in Paraguay.” analysed Paraguay’s Summit commitments. The Dialogue focused on youth political participation and electoral integrity.
On 18 October 2022, participants of the country-level Dialogue “What now? Supporting the Summit for Democracy process in Paraguay.” analysed Paraguay’s Summit commitments. The Dialogue focused on youth political participation and electoral integrity.
Annika Silva-Leander of International IDEA speaks on a panel with moderator Sanjeeta Pant of Accountability Lab, Gina Romero of the Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Democracia, and Jimmy Kande of the Pan-African Anti-Corruption Network.
Johnny Walsh of the White House National Security Council speaking offered reflections after a forum panel.
Kourtney Pompi, Counterpart’s director for civic engagement, moderates a panel at the Global Democracy Coalition Forum.
Ambassador Norm Eisen of the Brookings Institution presented at the Global Democracy Coalition Forum at Counterpart’s office.

Events

29
Mar 23
Costa Rica

Youth activism in civil society: strategies for counteracting restrictions to civic space in Latin America & the world

About the authors

Lisa-Marie Dalke
Assistant, Supporting Team Europe Democracy
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