About the Event
Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the White House’s African Leaders’ Summit, leading American democracy and human rights organizations will convene a concurrent African civil society conference, Towards an Action Program for Democracy, on August 5th (by invite only) and 6th in Washington, D.C. The conference will be an important platform for leading African activists to remind their governments and the international community that African citizens value freedom and democracy and will provide an opportunity to help reassert democratic reform and human rights on the African agenda, galvanize and network African democracy activists, share challenges and achievements, identify priorities, and craft strategies.
While nearly 50 African heads of state pursue official government agendas at the Leaders’ Summit, the civil society conference will engage prominent democracy and human rights activists from Africa in a series of working groups to develop specific recommendations, goals, and demands, which will result in an Action Program for Democracy in Africa. The working groups will take place on Tuesday, August 5, at the National Endowment for Democracy.
On Wednesday, August 6, the findings and recommendations of each working group will be presented by senior civil society leaders at a day-long public meeting in the U.S. House of Representatives. There will be discussions with members of each working group, and an opportunity for questions and debate from the audience, which will include a broad spectrum of interested parties, including the African diaspora, media, donors, policy makers, academics, international organizations and members of the governmental delegations participating in the Leaders’ Summit. Feedback from this event will be incorporated into an Action Program, addressed to African governments, civil society, and citizens, as well as the international community, on the occasion of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit. The Action Program will be circulated in a final document after the Summit, and the conference deliberations and declarations will be disseminated via broadcast and internet media, communications by conference participants, and the organizing efforts of Africa’s democratic activists on the ground.
Further info: http://www.ned.org/events/towards-an-action-program-for-democracy-an-african-civil-society-conference
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