The Council's main goal is to strengthen Democracy International’s work by offering experience, advice and practical support. The Council was formally established in Democracy International's headquarters in Cologne, Germany on 4 May 2013.
These democracy initiatives from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are the first members of the Council:
Mission of the DI Council
We, the members of the Council of Democracy International, support political self-determination and the rights of the people to decide directly important issues of the electorate. In most cases, such projects are domestic political efforts, which the Council supports international.
In our countries, we are wrestling with encrusted power structures and the unwillingness of many political leaders to embrace more direct and participatory democracy.
We assert that political leaders -even if they want to- are not able to develope new, coherent, forward-looking democratic forms of participation. The old system always prevents itself from change to freedom. We think that real development will only be possible directly through the people.
In response, we are strengthening our local capabilities and experimenting with how to renew obsolete forms of democracy. Our goal is to create modern, 21st century democracies around the world. The Council is the place of networking between our member organizations from many different countries.
We support each other in word and deed and carry the topics and campaigns of Democracy International to our countries.
Together with the Board and all Members of Democracy International, we invite local, national and global democracy initiatives to join us in our international movement.
We call on all people and activist groups who are honest and courageous in their commitment to democracy to join Democracy International.
Together, we can better foster international exchanges on democracy, the rule of law, and the involvement of as many citizens as possible in political decision-making. We are certain that this is one of the most important contributions to a peaceful world.
