Join The Movement

In 1999, 400 democrats founded the World Movement for Democracy in New Delhi, India. In honor of the event, participants joined us in celebration by sharing stories about how the World Movement has impacted their work. Read reflections from our participants, and check out highlights from the past twenty years with the timeline of the World Movement!

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Eleventh Global Assembly

Our Eleventh Global Assembly took place from October 25-27, 2022, in Taipei, Taiwan. Under the theme “Claiming the Democratic Future: Unifying Voices for a New Frontier” democracy advocates came together to build a shared understanding of today’s challenges to democracy, join efforts to counter the growing authoritarian threats, and foster democratic momentum.

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Right to Receive Funding

Did you know civil society organizations have the legal right to receive funding under a number of international and regional laws? Despite this, many governments restrict access to funding to strangle civil society. Our resource hub offers five new tools to help activists protect their right to receive funding.

RESOURCE HUB

Democracy Through My Eyes

Together with Hurford Youth Fellows, we have invited young democracy activists from around the world to share photographs that represent democracy in their communities. This project aims to encourage young people to explore how art can be a story-telling method for democracy activism and achieving change.

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ISSUE The Crossover Initiative


During political transitions, activists sometimes have an opportunity to “cross over” into government so they can advance democratic reform from within as elected or appointed officials. What do they need to know? How do they prepare themselves for shifting from civil society activism to governance? By sharing experiences and knowledge, the Crossover Initiative empowers activists who are entering, or have recently entered, government in overcoming challenges they face.

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ISSUE Celebrating 20 Years


Twenty years ago, over 400 democrats gathered in New Delhi, India to form the World Movement for Democracy. The Movement was designed to be flexible and adaptable to the time’s most pressing challenges to democracy. Check out what we have achieved over the last 20 years with our timeline of the Movement.

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ISSUE Youth Voices


In order for democracy movements to remain growing and vibrant in future years, the voices of youth democracy activists must be reflected in the movements. We’ve invited youth members of our network from different parts of the world to share their ideas and hopes through videos they’ve directed and filmed.

Explore their diverse points of view in the Youth Voices video series.

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ISSUE Join the Call to Free Political Prisoners


In a new video series, we speak with the families and friends of political prisoners in Azerbaijan and Venezuela who have been imprisoned for their work as activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. Join us in calling to #SetThemFree by sharing their stories with your networks.

Their Stories

ISSUE Advocacy to Protect Civic Space


In an age of threats to the rights of assembly, association, and expression, the World Movement highlights recent successes that civil society has achieved in defending these rights in three countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Nigeria.

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ISSUE Music as a Messenger of Democracy


Yiaga Africa and the African Movement for Democracy, with the support of the World Movement for Democracy, have released the “Music as a Messenger of Democracy” album. This pan-African effort, featuring musicians from Senegal, Mali, The Gambia, Togo, Nigeria, and Benin, uses music to inspire youth to become civically active, and speaks to themes like good governance, corruption, and peace.

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ISSUE Battle of Narratives: Building Public Support for Democratic Renewal


During our “Battle of Narratives: Building Public Support for Democratic Renewal” event, in partnership with International Idea and the National Endowment for Democracy, civil society leaders discussed how to develop pro-democracy narratives that will appeal to people across regions, cultures, and generations.

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ISSUE Raising Women's Representation


At the “Women Deliver Forum,” convened by Future In Our Hands, the World Movement, and CIPE in Banjul, The Gambia, participants discussed ways that the business sector, government, and civil society organizations can work together to truly empower women. It’s part of a series of forums exploring how democracy can deliver concrete results for all its citizens.

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ISSUE TOOLS TO COMBAT MISINFORMATION


The World Movement convened a group of online media experts, activists, and scholars to discuss the problem of “infodemics”—a pattern of rapidly spreading outbreaks of misinformation. Since the phenomenon has become even more urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic, with increases in its frequency and also the seriousness of its real world impacts, the panelists explored concrete tactics that can be used to contain the start of an infodemic.

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ISSUE Promoting Inclusive Governance


The World Movement aims to strengthen inclusive democratic governance. We facilitate engagement among emerging leaders from civil society and political parties and help to build effective partnerships between civil society, government, and the private sector. To that end we launched an initiative with CIPE and the US Chamber of Commerce in Burkina Faso, to enhance private sector, civil society, and government collaboration.

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ISSUE Strengthening Democratic Leadership


The next generation of democratic leadership plays a crucial role in sustaining and advancing democracy.  We believe in the importance of inter-generational dialogue and facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences between seasoned leaders and emerging leaders. Through our Hurford Youth Fellowship we empower young activists by helping deepen their understanding of challenges of democracy and linking them with leaders of numerous democracy movements.

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ISSUE Defending Democratic Space


Worldwide, freedoms are increasingly restricted for people who wish to voice their concerns, come together, and address those concerns by engaging stakeholders. In both physical and digital spaces, they face limitations on where they can meet, how they can interact, and what they can say or do. One of our many initiatives to reverse this trend is the Access to Resources Hub, which offers a set of tools to help activists protect their right to access resources.

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News & Alerts >

Democracy News & Alerts

March 30, 2023

Democracy ALERT: Death Threats and Harassment Against Dismas Kitenge Escalate

During the early hours of March 29, 2023, the residence of World Movement’s former Steering Committee Member Dismas Kitenge was ransacked by unidentified armed bandits. This is the third time that Mr. Kitenge’s home has been attacked this year. Dismas Kitenge is the President and co-founder of Groupe LOTUS, a non-governmental organization that works to […]

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May 8, 2023

Democracy ALERT: 50+ democracy advocates were arrested overnight in Nicaragua

On the night of May 3, the Nicaraguan government sent police units to arrest democracy advocates who have been critical of President Daniel Ortega, accusing them of fomenting “conspiracy,” “treason,” and “spreading fake news.” Nicaraguan civil society organizations report that at least 57 people were arbitrarily detained, including human rights defenders, journalists, attorneys, and Campesino […]

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Democracy Advocates from 70 Countries Gather in Taiwan for 11th Global Assembly


On October 25-27, 2022, the World Movement for Democracy will hold its 11th Global Assembly in Taipei, Taiwan, to strengthen solidarity among democracy advocates around the world in their efforts to build a free world.

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