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Press Release

THE AMERICAS AND AFRICA ESTABLISH A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
FOR THE PROMOTION AND DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY

Coming together for the first time, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the African Union (AU) have moved to create a “Democratic Bridge" between the two regions-seeking to establish mechanisms to strengthen the democratic systems in both region through the promotion of democratic values and the defense of its institutions.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, AU Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konaré, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, OAS Permanent Council Chair Ambassador Deborah-Mae Lovell of Antigua and Barbuda, and Mali's Ambassador to the U.S. Abdoulaye Diop were the featured speakers at this morning's session to inaugurate the “Democracy Bridge: Multilateral Regional Efforts for the Promotion and Defense of Democracy in Africa and the Americas,” at OAS headquarters in Washington.

During his remarks, Secretary General Insulza underscored the common issues that bind both regional organizations, highlighting the similar political, social and economic challenges that each continent faces. He noted that these international entities have made “significant efforts to endow our States with clear and definite concepts and guidelines regarding democracy and its institutions,” pointing out that this two-day meeting will serve as an important forum to share the outcomes of those efforts, especially those expressed in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.

Insulza provided an overview of the Democratic Charter’s key elements noting that free and fair elections are not enough for a government to be truly democratic. It must also be able to govern for the people with strong institutions, freedom of the press, respect for human rights, and citizen participation, he said.

The Secretary General also shared some of the major problems that Latin America and the Caribbean need to overcome in order to deliver its citizens what they expect. “Economic growth, poverty and social inequality and the growth of crime,” he said are the most crucial challenges that the region is facing.

Despite the values and commitments enshrined in the Democratic Charter, Insulza said that “we are not yet fully satisfied because we consider that without progress on the economic and social fronts it is not possible to preserve and broaden a democracy that truly lives up to the expectations of citizens.”

The Chairperson of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konaré, reiterated this principle noting that his region does not lack resources, yet it is the poorest continent in the world. The African diplomat stressed his commitment in working with the OAS by exchanging experiences, reinforcing regional mechanisms and developing concrete measures to stimulate future development.

“The historic bonds that unite Africa with the Americas, which include bloody ties, should bear as witnesses to the common determination of our democracies to share fundamental values.” Adding that “democracy is not a luxury,” but more needs to be done to improve that relation which should be based on mutual respect.

Addressing Secretary General Insulza, Konaré noted said that we “need to promote the values that we know will make a difference: the values of democracy, the respect of the rule of law and the respect of liberty.” Adding to this approach, the AU Chairperson noted that “we should, above all, make sure that these principles we believe, also enjoy strong international relations.”

Secretary of State Rice saluted the OAS conference as a historic and timely coming together of Africa and the Americas, noting as well the democratic transformation sweeping Africa in recent years and the end of military dictatorships and the rise of a new democratic consensus in the Americas. She hailed both regions’ commitment to democracy in their respective “visionary documents”—the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the newly adopted African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.

“Our challenge now is to use our democratic partnership, Americans and Africans together, to deliver the benefits of democracy to our people,” Secretary Rice declared. “We must use our democratic partnership to build up, expand, and broaden democratic institutions, institutions that are transparent and accountable to the needs of all of their people. We must fight corruption and protect civil liberties and the rule of law. We must encourage vibrant, civil societies and defend freedom of speech.”

Describing the forum as “much more than a dialogue on best practices,” Rice observed that it also represents an opportunity to work together to meet the greatest development challenges: “to help meet our people's needs, from housing and health, to good jobs and education.” She called on the democratic governments of Africa and the Americas to liberate the creativity and industry of their people. The governments must help citizens seize the opportunities of regional and global trade, she said. “Governments must help, not hinder, the social and economic progress of their people.”

Ambassador Lovell welcomed the forum participants, and reviewed the evolution of mechanisms to promote democracy in the Americas and in Africa over the past two decades. She remarked that “even though the Americas are enjoying the most prolonged uninterrupted democratic period in its history, it is important to recognize that the region’s democratic institutions and processes still present weaknesses and deficiencies and that citizens still expect a great deal more than they are getting from their democratic systems.”

By generating dialogue, exchanging experiences, and reflecting on specific tools for strengthening our democratic systems via regional organizations, said Ambassador Lovell, “the international community is further expressing its commitment to democracy and vindicating the multilateral approach to defending and ensuring the full rights of citizens and the freedoms enshrined in democracy.”

For his part Ambassador Diop, speaking as Chairman of the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies, focused on the vital role that regional organization can play in consolidating democratic institutions, good governance and in “the promotion of democratic principles that sustain them.” Accentuating the importance the OAS and the AU have placed on citizens’ right to democracy, Diop recalled the emphasis both institutions have placed in their respective political instruments on democracy, that the peoples of both regions have a right to democracy and that their respective governments have an obligation to promote and defend that right.

The Community of Democracies believes regional organizations can also play a crucial role in poverty reduction—an important dimension of the consolidating process of democratization in the world, according to the Malian Ambassador. He pointed to concrete benefits citizens derive from democracy, such as the encouragement of stability and good governance, “which are essential, with economic prosperity.” Diop said the Community of Democracies hopes to take advantage of the results of this OAS-AU conference to inform the final document that will be issued by the Community’s ministerial conference on democracy and development, slated for Bamako, the Malian capital, in November this year.

Reference: E-170/07