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Community of Democracies Working Group

Promoting Democracy and Responding to National and Transnational Threats to Democracy

Rome, 1 March 2007

Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sala delle Conferenze Internazionali ______

Program

With the support of

Wednesday, 28th February

20.00 Welcome Reception at the “Circolo del Ministero degli Affari Esteri”

Thursday, 1st March

10.00 - 10.15 Opening remarks Sen. Gianni Vernetti, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs

10.15 - 11.45 FIRST SESSION

The Role of Community of Democracies in the Promotion of Democracy

Chair: Sen. Gianni Vernetti, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Speech: Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary of State, US Emma Bonino, Minister for International Trade and European Policies, Italy Jacek Czaputowicz, Director, Department of Strategy and Foreign Policy Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Abdoulaye Diop, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali to the United States Valerie de Campos Mello, Secretary to the UNDEF Board and Senior Policy Advisor to the Fund Paul Graham, Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), Pretoria

Rapporteur: Christian Tomuschat, Professor of International Law, Humboldt University, Berlin

11.45 - 12.00 Coffee break

12.00 - 13.30 SECOND SESSION

The Response of Democratic States to National and Transnational Threats to Democracy

Chair: Al-haj Hussein Bhaila, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Speech: Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy, Washington DC Joerg Volker Ketelsen, European Commission, External Relations DG, Unit for Human Rights and Democratisation Ammar Al-Shahabandar, Center for Liberty in the Middle East, London Matteo Mecacci, Transnational Radical Party, Italy Julie Finley, Permanent Representative of the US to the OSCE

Rapporteur: Eric Rosand, Senior Fellow, Center on Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, New York

13.30 - 15.00 Lunch break

15.00 - 16.30 THIRD SESSION

The Role of Civil Society in the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy

Chair: José Roberto Andino Salazar, Ambassador of the Republic of El Salvador to Italy

Speech: Piero Gastaldo, Secretary General, Compagnia di San Paolo, Turin Chee Siok Chin, Executive Director, Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia, Singapore Marieke van Doorn, Policy Officer International Relations, Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, The Hague Mohsen Marzouk, Executive Director, Kadem, Tunisia Charles Brown, CEO, Citizens for Global Solutions, Washington DC Vygaudas Ušackas, Ambassador of Lithuania to the UK Yuri Dzhibladze, President, Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Moscow

Rapporteur: Natalino Ronzitti, Professor of International Law, LUISS University, and Scientific Advisor, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Rome

16.30 - 16.45 Coffee break

16.45 - 18.00 Conclusions: 3 rapporteurs from the 3 sessions Discussion

18.00 - 18.15 Concluding Remarks

Ambassadors of the Member-Countries of the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies will also participate: Cape Verde; Chile; Czech Republic; El Salvador; India; Korea; Mali; Mexico; Morocco; Poland; Portugal; South Africa; Sri Lanka; The Philippines