Ulaanbaatar Declaration issued

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Ulaanbaatar Declaration named "Community's attainments and global challenges" was adopted by the participants of the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies on April 29. It says that the participants of the Conference reaffirm their commitment and adherence to the purposes and principles of the Warsaw Declaration of 27 June 2000 establishing the Community of Democracies and subsequent Ministerial decisions of the Community of Democracies, reiterate their obligations under the United Nations Charter and their common allegiance to the principles and spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reaffirm that democracy, development and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and reiterate also their conviction that democracy is the best known form of government to promote and protect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law for all and so on. It goes on that the participants reaffirm their resolve to advance democracy in their countries and worldwide, help bridge the gap between principles and practice and to cooperate in an open, inclusive and transparent manner with relevant national and international stakeholders within the respective countries as well as among themselves and other international stakeholders. They also reaffirm their continued commitment to the CD reform process, initiated under the Lithuanian Presidency and welcome the institutional reforms of the CD advanced under Mongolia’s Presidency, as decided by the Vilnius Ministerial Conference in 2011, including the establishment of the first Governing Council and Executive Committee, the appointment of the Community’s first Secretary-General and the institutionalization of its Permanent Secretariat. These basic institutional structures are contributing to the development of the CD into a dynamic coalition able to take real action to strengthen democracy and civil society worldwide. They commend the concrete actions undertaken by the Presidency in promoting education for democracy, and will work together to promote the full and meaningful implementation of the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/67/18 on Education for Democracy, which would contribute to the strengthening of democratic society and institutions, the realization of human rights and the achievement of the MDGs. Further, they commend to the attention of all CD member states the action plan contained in the International Steering Committee’s Charlottesville Declaration on Creating a Culture of Democracy through Education (CCD). The participants applaud the concrete actions taken by the Community’s working groups since the Vilnius Ministerial Conference in support of the Community of Democracies’ objectives, including: - Establishing the Leadership Engaged in New Democracies (LEND) Network and its Working Group– a digital platform for sharing best practices, peer-to-peer exchanges, and information on reform and the rule of law with those leaders guiding democratic transitions; - Streamlining the activities of the Working Group on Education for Democracy to focus on practical actions, such as organizing international seminars, developing curriculum framework, establishing a new digital library of democracy education curricula and materials. They also welcome other activities by the Community, including: - Organizing the International Women’s Leadership Forum in Ulaanbaatar in July 2012 - Convening of the first informal Asia-Pacific Ministerial meeting in Ulaanbaatar on 28 April 2013 at which the Ministers decided to regularly hold such a meeting at the margin of the CD Ministerial Conferences - Launching an Asian network for democracy to consolidate regional civil society activities and strengthening democratic gains in Asia - Continued meetings of the UN Democracy Caucus that addressed issues such as democracy education, the rule of law, and democracy support - Successfully implementing the first round of the Democracy Partnership Challenge Task Forces for Tunisia and Moldova - Initiating the process to apply for an observer status with the United Nations General Assembly - Recognition of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy, established under the Lithuanian Presidency, as an affiliated body of the Community of Democracies - Holding the first meeting of a Group of Friends of the Community of Democracies in Bamako with the aim of supporting Mali’s return to democratic order - Establishing an Ad Hoc Group for Myanmar to support that country’s transition towards democracy - Supporting effective cooperation with civil society to improve the transparency, accountability, legitimacy and performance of democratic governments. It has been also reflected that the participants welcome the concrete and practical outcomes of the fora of the five pillars of the CD, namely, parliamentary, civil society, women, youth and the corporate fora, held in Ulaanbaatar 27-28 April, which addressed the challenges and opportunities in promoting and consolidating democratic reforms, including means of harnessing open governance for democracy, and addressing the issues of more effectively fighting against corruption. These fora also provided an opportunity to share experiences and chart further cooperative measures, including related to tackling the issues of open government, transparency, democratic governance and support for emerging democracies. Their input to this Ministerial conference, annexed to this declaration, is greatly appreciated and lays the basis for further concrete actions of the CD in cooperation with its pillars. They resolve to strengthen the activities of the CoD in support of greater democratic governance in their countries as well as in promoting and protecting democratic values in countries where democracy faces challenges. To this end they support the activities of the pillars of the CoD in promoting transparent and accountable democratic governance; in addressing, where necessary, the challenges to such governance and promoting human rights and freedom; work together to emphasize human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic governance as integral parts of inclusive development and the eradication of extreme poverty as the international community works to formulate the post-2015 development framework; resolve to protect and promote freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, religion and belief and provide support to those whose rights are being denied or infringed upon; emphasizing that human rights including freedom of expression apply online as well as offline; support the strengthened role of the CoD at the United Nations by encouraging the UN Democracy Caucus to take a leading role in supporting the goals of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the CoD Warsaw Declaration, in the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and other relevant UN bodies; by supporting the work of the UN special mechanisms on issues relating to democracy and human rights, particularly the UN Special Reporters on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the situation of human rights defenders; by developing closer cooperation with the UN Development Program, the UN Democracy Fund, other relevant UN bodies and the UN Alliance of Civilizations. They promote the goals of empowering of women and their full participation in all spheres of political, social and economic life as well as fighting gender-based violence; redouble their efforts to include civil society views in all aspects of the CoD, to provide support to the nongovernmental International Steering Committee, and to support civil society in all countries in the world. They welcome the new Presidency of El Salvador and express a commitment to support and assist El Salvador in leading multi-stakeholder efforts to protect, strengthen and advance democracy and democratic values in our countries and beyond. They congratulate Mongolia on its outstanding leadership of the Community of Democracies and its efforts to advance democracy and democratic values in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. They also express words of gratitude to Mongolia for the successful hosting of the VII Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Ulaanbaatar.