Press release on World Movement for

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Subject: Press release on World Movement for Democracy

World Movement for Democracy
Established at New Delhi Conference

                                                     For Immediate Release

Date: March 1, 1999
Contact: Jane Riley Jacobsen, (202) 293-9072

Washington, D.C. - An unprecedented assembly of over 400 democracy
proponents from more than 80 countries meeting in New Delhi, India
concluded Wednesday, Feb. 17 with the adoption of a resolution to establish
a World Movement for Democracy. Participants in the meeting, which was
sponsored jointly by the Washington, D.C. based National Endowment for
Democracy (NED), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Centre
for Policy Research (India), resolved to "strengthen democracy where it is
weak, reform and invigorate democracy
even where it is long-standing and bolster pro-democracy groups in
countries that have not yet entered into a process of democratization."

Conferees agreed that while electoral democracy has been adopted by more
than half the world's 190 countries, much work needs to be done to
consolidate the democratic gains of the past 25 years and to further the
spread of democracy to countries still governed by authoritarian regimes.

The Movement's founding document states: "To help maintain the global
momentum for democratic progress, we believe there is a need for a
worldwide network of democratic practitioners and thinkers, committed to
mutual support, exchange, and cooperation." The establishment of this
network began at the conference during smaller workshops where delegates
made contacts, exchanged experiences, information and skills in several
different areas of work, including:

   * Non Governmental Organizations, which are sharing information and
     coordinating efforts to resist attempts of governments to restrict
     their activities;
   * Political parties, which are working with party internationals to
     develop new strategies to strengthen parties in all parts of the
     world;
   * Trade Unions, which are seeking to promote worker rights standards
     as set forth by the International Labor Organization;
   * Civic Educators, who are building the competencies, knowledge and
     skills necessary to participate in a democratic society;
   * Policy Research Institutes, which are working to enhance
     collaboration both within and across regions;
   * Anti-corruption organizations, led by the international

     organization Transparency International, which is organizing a
     broad international coalition of NGOs, business leaders,
     international lending institutions, the media, and government
     officials to remedy this growing impediment to democracy;
   * Business leaders, who are seeking new ways to improve corporate
     governance;
   * Democracy assistance foundations, which will seek to expand the
     network of democracies that provide concrete assistance to
     grass-roots democrats around the world; and
   * A working group on the uses of technology has developed an agenda
     for harnessing the use of cyberspace to service all aspects of
     theMovement.

The resolution further defines the objective of the network, stating: "The
goal of the World Movement for Democracy is not to create a new centralized
organization that will make decisions on its own. Indeed, the Movement is
not an organization as such. Rather it is a pro-active network of democrats
that will meet periodically to exchange ideas and experiences and foster
collaboration among democratic forces around the world...To this end, the
network will provide an arena of interaction for all those who find the
need for support and those capable of providing it in various ways." The
Movement intends to meet at least
once every two years.

Conference delegates agreed that the establishment of the world Movement
rests on the assumption that democracy is an idea which is appropriate for
any country or culture, and that "human beings aspire to freedom by their
very nature, and that no single culture has a monopoly on democratic
values." This concept was echoed in the remarks of Nobel laureate
(Economics 1998) Amartya Sen, who delivered the conference keynote address,
"Democracy as a Universal Value." In his speech, Sen asserted that "a
country does not have to be judged to be fit for democracy, rather it has
to be fit through democracy."

Other prominent speakers at the conference included Mary Robinson, UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland; several
leading Indian political figures, including External Affairs Minister
Jaswant Singh, Defense Minister George Fernandes, former Prime Minister
I.K. Gujral, and former Finance Minister Monmohan Singh. Indian Prime
Minister A.B. Vajpayee and US President Bill Clinton also addressed the
conference in videotaped messages. Several members of the US Congress also
participated in the meeting, including Gary Ackerman, Lloyd Doggett, Jim
McDermott, and David Price.

NED is a private, nonprofit, grant-making organization created in 1983 to
strengthen democratic institutions around the world. It is active in more
than 90 countries, supporting grassroots democratic initiatives. Through
its International Forum for Democratic Studies, it also produces the
Journal of Democracy, conducts analyses of the theory and practice of
democratic development worldwide, and serves as a clearinghouse for
information on democratic development.
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