Dear friends, partners and supporters of Democracy International,
"Tunisia is in transition. - So is direct democracy around the world.
We are Tunisians. We are Africans. We are Europeans. We are Asians. We are from the Americas. We come from all kinds of communities, from every corner of the globe, and from all walks of life. Among us are scholars, trade unionists, journalists, activists, campaign organizers, philanthropists, elected officials, NGO leaders, lawyers, businesspeople, farmers, students, citizens, engineers, and the unemployed..."
These are the first words of the "Tunis Declaration" that more than 400 people from all around the world adopted at the end of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy that took place in Tunisia´s capital from 14 to 17 May 2015.
The Global Forum happened two months after the terrorist attack das shaken the Bardo Museum in Tunis, and six weeks before another attack hit Tunisia again. Also, the event took place five months before the Tunisian workers´federation UGTT, core partner of the Global Forum and a key actor of the "National Quartet", won the Nobel Prize for Peace. The National Quartet was awarded for "its decisive contribtution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011." Democracy International has co-organised the conference with UGTT, the University of Carthage, the Arab Research and Policy Centre and European partners.
This year Democracy International devotes its anthology of activities to the many people who courageously stand up for democracy, despite of terrifying setbacks. Allying with these people, Democracy International pursues to realise more direct democracy and citizen participation within national contexts, at the European level and throughout the world.
In this resepct, we have been campaigning for a more democratic EU and a stronger EU Citizens´Initiative this year. We have engaged with people across the globe to foster exchange and to provide knowledge on direct democracy. Moreover, we have helped to build new democracy groups and supported them in running campaigns. In our annual report, you can read abouth our main actions in 2015.
All the best,
The Democracy International team