[R-G] "World Movement for Democracy to Meet in Kyiv"

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

They don't give up, do they? -- Yoshie

<http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080312/pl_usnw/world_movement_for_democracy_to_meet_in_kyiv>
World Movement for Democracy to Meet in Kyiv

Wed Mar 12, 4:50 PM ET

To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Jane Riley Jacobsen of the National Endowment for Democracy,
+1-202-378-9700, jane at ned.org

Hundreds of Democracy Activists will Convene April 6-9, 2008

WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of democracy
activists, practitioners and scholars from more than 100 countries
will convene April 6-9 in Kyiv, Ukraine, for the Fifth Assembly of the
World Movement for Democracy. The Assembly, which will be held at
Kyivs Ukrainian House, begins at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 6.
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko has been invited to present
welcoming remarks at the opening session; keynote speakers will
include former President of Peru Alejandro Toledo, Maina Kiai,
chairperson of the National Commission on Human Rights in Kenya, and
journalist Myroslava Gongadze, founder of the Gongadze Foundation,
Ukraine.

Making Democracy Work: From Principles to Performance is the theme for
the biennial Assembly, where more than 500 participants will take part
in a wide range of practical workshops focusing on both global and
regional challenges to the development and defense of democracy. The
workshops are designed to produce practical recommendations and
initiatives, and to help participants build and strengthen networks
that will advance their work after the Assembly. A complete agenda for
the Assembly is available online.

The findings of a ground-breaking new report issued by the World
Movement in February 2008, Defending Civil Society, will be presented
during plenary session and the subject of panel discussions and
workshops, providing participants with an opportunity to collaborate
in responding to the current backlash against democracy and democracy
promotion in countries where recent democratic gains have been eroded,
or where authoritarian regimes seek to restrict the space in which
civil society organizations carry out their work.

Another highlight of the Assembly will be the presentation of the
World Movements Democracy Courage Tributes at the John B. Hurford
Memorial Dinner on the closing night, April 9th. Four groups that have
taken extraordinary risks to promote and protect democratic principles
will be recognized; they include the Monks of Burma, Irans One Million
Signature Campaign, Pakistans Legal Community, and the Print and
Broadcast Journalists of Somalia.

The Europe XXI Foundation, based in Kyiv, is serving as the local
partner organization, working with the World Movement Secretariat to
organize the Assembly.

Initiated in 1999 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," the World Movement is a global
network that meets periodically to exchange ideas and experiences and
uses new information and communication technologies to foster
collaboration among democratic forces around the world. It is led by a
distinguished international Steering Committee and the Washington,
DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) currently serves as
its Secretariat.

CONTACT: Jane Riley Jacobsen +1 (202) 378-9700 or jane at ned.org

SOURCE National Endowment for Democracy

-- 
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>