ALDA took part in the International Democracy Day on the 15th September 2022, hosted by the Committee of the Regions in Brussels.
The day was split between different sessions with a wide range of high-level speakers, international democracy advocates and activists from both sides of the Atlantic and the Global South, that addressed the challenges of the new world order for democracy. The focus was the mechanisms to protect and support democracy around the world.
The morning session tackled democracy in the era of geopolitics, and was hosted by International IDEA. It opened with the key speech by Rana Ayyub, an Indian journalist working for the Washington Post, who pointed out the situation in India, with particular reference to human rights violations in the largest democracy in the world.
The discussion then continued with exchanges with Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director of European Endowment for Democracy, and Christina Kokkinakis, Deputy Managing Director Global and Director for Values and Multilateral relations at the European External Action Service (EEAS).
The second panel focused on EU Presidencies and the EU External Democracy Agenda, with uninteresting input by Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin, Sweden’s ambassador for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law on how democracies do not wage war against each other, and Sweden’s commitment in the defense of democracy.
International Democracy Day 2022: ALDA present at the Committee of the Regions to share with other CSOs and Institutions
The day ended with a panel by the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), network within which ALDA is an active member, on the political participation of young people, with interventions of different speakers, among whom Chiara Adamo, Acting Director for Human Development, Migration, Governance and Peace at the European Commission.
Thus, the democratic dimension is at the core of Association’s work and events such as the one held in Brussels are a good example of how to engage with others and exchange ideas on the status of democracy around the world, since 2021 was a year of further democratic backsliding in many countries worldwide. Hence, ALDA’s principles rely on the belief that a global democratic world can lay only on democratic local communities as also testified by the events and initiatives organised; among them the General Assembly 2022.
Finally, the ALDA team participated actively and had the chance to exchange views on the theme of democracy, its challenges and how to engage people in the political processes.
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