Over 100 governments participated in a landmark international political event in Warsaw, Poland in June 2000. In an effort to further consolidate their commitment to democratic principles, they agreed to endorse the Warsaw Declaration, which commits them to build a Community of Democracies as an association of democratic states dedicated to strengthening democratic values and institutions at home and abroad. Complementing the biennial ministerial gathering was a parallel nongovernmental meeting of leading democracy activists and thinkers from around the world. A Convening Group made up of Chile, the Czech Republic, India, Mali, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and the United States organized a second ministerial meeting in Seoul, Korea in November 2002 and adopted the Soeul Plan of Action to deepen and sustain the commitments made in Warsaw; a parallel forum of civil society leaders was also convened in Seoul.
In the months leading up to the Second Ministerial, the Democracy Coalition Project worked with the civil society actors and convening group governments to assess which governments should be invited as full participants, which governments should be invited as observers and which governments should not be invited. The invitation list can be accessed by clicking here. To see a comparison of invitees between the the First Ministerial in Warsaw and the Second Ministerial in Seoul, click here.
The Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) seeks to monitor CD governments’ implementation of the Warsaw Declaration and Seoul Plan of Action through an assortment of ongoing activities. These include contributing to the Community of Democracies Ministerial Process in advance of the 2005 and 2002 meetings; actively participating in the parallel nongovernmental process; and pressing Convening Group countries to uphold criteria for participation in the Community of Democracies. DCP is also working to make the Community of Democracies a viable instrument for governments to promote democracy at home and through the institutions to which they belong, through means such as the Democracy Caucus at the United Nations and other intergovernmental institutions.