2005 Santiago Ministerial

The third Ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies (CD) was held in Santiago, Chile on April 28-30, 2005. Secretary Rice led the United States' delegation, giving key remarks at the opening plenary and chairing the roundtable focused on how governments and NGOs can share best practices and lessons learned within their region and across regions. The official website of the Chilean Government, chairman of the Community and host of this ministerial, provides more information.

This ministerial built on the foundation laid in Warsaw in 2000 and the action plan designed in Seoul in 2002. Ministers and senior officials met to discuss key thematic concerns, such as developing democracy caucuses at the UN and other regional organizations; poverty, development and democracy; regional and inter-regional cooperation for democracy; civil society; and regional organizations' efforts to combat threats to democracy. In addition, they met for the first time in the Community's history as regional groups to grapple with the challenges facing each region and identify how democracies can address these deficits. The program gives an overview of the conference agenda.

The Santiago Commitment outlines the commitments made by governments. In addition, the group adopted a procedures document that guides the activities of the Community.

Just as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are an integral part of any democracy and of democratization efforts, NGOs are essential to the Community of Democracies. For this reason, NGOs will be integrated into the ministerial. Information about the NGO community's partnership can be found at http://www.santiago2005.org/. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky met with representatives from countries not invited to the Ministerial, and Ambassador Michael Kozak hosted an open meeting for all non-governmental representatives. For photos of these two meetings, click here.

--04/28/05  Remarks at the Community of Democracies Opening Plenary; Secretary Condoleezza Rice; Hyatt Regency Hotel; Santiago, Chile
--04/18/05  Countries Invited to the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies; Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Washington, DC