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Forum 2023

The Global Democracy Coalition, a multi-stakeholder coalition of more than 100 democracy organizations from across the world, convened a Forum on 28 February & 1 March 2023 in preparation for the second Summit for Democracy, co-hosted by the United States, South Korea, Zambia, the Netherlands and Costa Rica on 29 & 30 March. The aim was to provide a space for inclusive dialogue to collectively prepare inputs to inform the Summit discussions, but also to generate collective ideas for a post-Summit process. Specifically, the Forum provided a space to discuss progress on S4D commitment implementation, to take stock of the cohort process and share progress to date,  to take collective stock of the state of democracy since the first Summit for Democracy, for GDC partners to make their own commitments to democracy (GDC pledge) and to generate recommendations for the post Summit process.

You can find a report with information about each one of the sessions here.

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Presentation of the S4D Youth Civic and Political Engagement Cohort Menu of possible commitments and session on how Cohorts can deliver on the ambitions of the S4D

Official presentation of the S4D Youth Civic and Political Engagement Cohort Menu of possible commitments for participating states. Followed by a session that analyzed the lessons learned, the outputs and some preliminary contributions as well as case studies.

  • Antonella Valmorbida, President, European Partnership for Democracy
  • Daryna Onyshko, President, European Democracy Youth Network
  • Shantosh Thapa, Youth Engagement Specialist, VSO
  • Meera Selva, CEO, Internews Europe
  • Rumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu, Senior Advisor, International IDEA
  • Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Executive Vice-President, Freedom House

Presented and moderated by Julia Keutgen, Programme Manager, International IDEA.


Reflection on S4D commitments and achievments

The session reflected on lessons learned on the S4D commitment process, progress in implementation and potential gaps.

  • Annika Silva-Leander, Head of North America, International IDEA
  • Joe Foti, Chief Research Officer, Open Government Partnerships
  • Norm Eisen, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  • Gina Romero, Executive Director, Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy
  • Jimmy Kande, President, Pan African Anti-Corruption Network
  • Yengwe Kakusa, Director of Governance and Planning, Ministry of Justice of Zambia

Moderated by Sanjeeta Pant, Programs and Learning Manager, Accountability Lab


Assessing the global democracy landscape one year after the first Summit

The session took stock of how democracy has fared since the first S4D, through a joint reflection on the state of democracy, including emerging challenges and advances and bright spots.

  • Seema Shah, Head of Democracy Assessment, International IDEA
  • Olaf Böhnke, Senior Advisor, Alliance of Democracies
  • Richard Wike, Director of Global Attitudes Research, Pew Research Center
  • Joseph Asunka, CEO, Afrobarometer
  • Pippa Norris, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Moderated by Annika Silva-Leander, Head of North America, International IDEA.

A brief analysis on the panel and subject can be read here.


Recommendations for a post-Summit process

The session tied together the results from the survey, the workshops and focus group discussions to explore options for a post-Summit process.

  • Thomas Carothers, Senior Fellow & Co-Director of Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict & Governance Programme
  • Joseph Brinker, Senior Expert on Democracy and Governance
  • Jean Scrimgeour, Global Director, Growth and Operations, Accountability Lab
  • Vukasin Petrovic, Vice President for Media, Tech, and Human Rights, DT Institute

Moderated by Kourtney Pompi, Director for Civic Engagement, Counterpart International.


Presentation of the Global Democracy Coalition pledges

The key commitments of partners in the Global Democracy Coalition presented through the GDC Pledge.

  • Bryan Sims, Senior Manager, Humanity United
  • Kyra Buchko, Co-Executive Director, Partners Global
  • David Tran, Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy
  • Kelli Kaesberg, Independent consultant