Hundreds of Democracy Activists to Meet in Lima, Peru, in October 2012 at Seventh Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9. 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Democracy for All: Ensuring Political, Social, and Economic Inclusion is the theme of the Seventh Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, to be held at the Swissotel in Lima, Peru, on October 14-17, 2012.  Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been invited to present remarks at the opening session on Sunday, October 14^th. Confirmed speakers at the opening session include 2012 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman, who is founder of Yemen's Women Journalists Without Chains, and Vladimir Ryzhkov, a leading Russian democrat who is a member of the World Movement Steering Committee and the founder of the Russia's Choice Movement.

Nearly 600 democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and donors from more than 100 countries will travel to Lima for a wide range of practical workshops focused on the general theme, as well as on youth engagement and empowerment, defending civil society, and building democracy movements by drawing on a wealth of participant experiences from around the world.  In addition to providing a space for participants to teach and learn from each other, the Assembly will also foster relationships of cross-border solidarity worldwide. 

Participants will build on the achievements of previous assemblies held in India (1999), Brazil (2000), South Africa (2004), Turkey (2006), Ukraine (2008), and Indonesia (2010), and will continue to address leading challenges to democracy work in such areas as anti-corruption, citizen security, free expression, independent media, human rights, local governance, free and fair elections, political party development, women's political participation, religious freedom, and worker rights, among others.

The highlight of each Assembly is the presentation of the World Movement's Democracy Courage Tributes at the concluding John B. Hurford Memorial Dinner.  The tributes honor groups and movements that have demonstrated extraordinary courage in their work, but often outside the spotlight of world attention.  The World Movement Steering Committee has selected three recipients who will be honored on the evening of October 17:

• Human Rights Defenders of Bahrain
• Advocates for the Rights of Sexual Minorities Worldwide
• Cuba's Pro-Democracy Movement

The World Movement is partnering  with a Host Country CSO Consortium convened by the Lima-based organizations Asociacion Civil Transparencia (Civil Association for Transparency) and Instituto de Defensa Legal (Legal Defense Institute). 

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 includes both regional networks and global functional networks focused on democracy research, women's political participation, and youth activism, among other areas of work.  It also carries out two projects, one on Defending Civil Society and one on Democracy Assistance.  The World Movement is led by a distinguished international Steering Committee and the Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) serves as its Secretariat.

SOURCE National Endowment for Democracy

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