Dear friends, partners and supporters of Democracy International,
2024 was a year like no other in modern history of democracy. More people than ever in more countries than ever were called to make their voices heard and votes counted at the ballot box this last year. This grand exercise of people power was huge challenge to citizens around the world, but also to institutions involved in this so-called super election year: election management bodies, media organisations, educational institutions and last but not least – Democracy International. Our global community has grown over the years and 2024 was no exemption. In contrary: with the ever first Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy in an Eastern European country we
extended our reach to a region which is under high pressure both from within and from the outside. The 12th Global Forum in Bucharest in May gathered hundreds of people of all walks of life from across the world around an essential ingredient of democracy: trust.
But at Democracy International we do not just trust the power of democracy, but we work hard every day for the protection, strengthening and development of people power at all political levels, all the way from supporting a local community in developing their participatory infrastructure to coordinating the global campaign for a ‘World Citizens Initiative’. We do this work out of conviction and experience, but also based on research evidence displayed in the world oldest and biggest data base on modern direct democracy, our ‘Direct Democracy Navigator’.
With such a comprehensive expertise strongly rooted in our networks of active citizens and professional experts, we have been able to deliver a series of great results in projects related to the empowerment of young people, activists in highly challenged societies and elected officials in parliaments and governments around the world. This includes Youth Camps, programs for interns at our Headquarters in Cologne and a comprehensive support and guidance at the European level, where we strongly continue our development work with the European Citizens’ Initiative. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our democracy community, sponsors and talented members of staff.
As members of the Executive Board of Democracy International we are extremely proud to present this annual report, which offers an overview, insights and outlooks to the work done both by our excellent team in Cologne and with partners around the world. Both the best and worst of all is: this is just the beginning!
Around the world non-democractic and illiberal ideas and forces are challenging and undermining basic freedoms and participatory opportunities on a daily basis. That’s the reason we must invest and work even harder – every day, with your support!
Thank you and democratically yours,
Clara Egger, Daniel Schily, Bruno Kaufmann,
Members of the Executive Board