World Movement for Democracy

The World Movement for Democracy is a global network of democrats, including activists, practitioners, academics, policy makers, and funders, who have come together to cooperate in the promotion of democracy.

The Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) initiated this nongovernmental effort with a global Assembly in New Delhi, India, in February 1999 to strengthen democracy where it is weak, to reform and invigorate democracy even where it is longstanding, and to bolster pro-democracy groups in countries that have not yet entered into a process of democratic transition.

Funding

U.S. taxpayer revenues cover the cost of having NED function as the logistical and infrastructural secretariat for this multifaceted democracy movement. Annual State Department allocations cover the four NED staff members who oversee the network from their positions in the office of NED's president. Most of the project funding for NED's WMD, however, comes from right-wing foundations in the United States, led by the Bradley Foundation, which has provided the startup and general support funding for an array of other neoconservative foreign policy projects, including the Project for the New American Century.

Although the World Movement for Democracy states that it "does not advocate positions on particular political issues," the network's Web site and publications, such as its e-zine DemocracyNews, largely reflect the U.S. government's foreign policy positions with respect to countries such as Venezuela and Cuba.

People

Steering Committee

• Mariclaire Acosta, Mexico
• Mahnaz Afkhami, Iran
• Igor Blazevic, Bosnia
• Francesca Bomboko, Democratic Republic of Congo
• Kavi Chongkittavorn, Thailand
• Alicija Derkowska, Poland
• Ivan Doherty, Ireland
• Han Dongfang, China, Vice Chair
• Yuri Dzhibladze, Russia
• David French, United Kingdom
• Carl Gershman, USA*
• Paul Graham, South Africa
• Jana Hybásková, Czech Republic
• Melinda Quintos de Jesus, Philippines
• Maina Kiai, Kenya
• Reginald Matchabe-Hove, Zimbabwe
• George Mathew, India
• Roel von Meijenfeldt, Netherlands
• Can Paker, Turkey,Treasurer
• Inna Pidluska, Ukraine
• Jacqueline Pitanguy, Brazil
• Carlos Ponce, Venezuela
• Elizabeth Ungar, Colombia, Secretary
• Yevgeniy Zhovtis, Kazakhstan

World Movement Secretariat Staff

• Art Kaufman, Director
• Ryota Jonen, Project Manager - Liaison to World Movement participants in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
• Cecilia Hernandez, Assistant Project Manager - Liaison to World Movement participants in Latin America
• Cate Urban, Assistant Project Manager - Liaison to World Movement participants in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe,and Russia