Democracy in an
era of
geopolitics

14-16 September | Brussels and online

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

International Democracy Day Brussels is an event organised each September to mark the UN International Day of Democracy.

Join a wide range of high-level speakers, international democracy advocates, and activists from across the world as they address the challenges of this new world order for democracy. They will discuss the mechanisms to protect and support democracy, such as Team Europe, and the potential for greater North-South collaboration.

Programme

16:00 - 17:00 Online

Rebuilding Ukraine: the Lugano Declaration

In this webinar, prominent civil society activists from Ukraine will discuss the main tenets of the Civil Society Manifesto (Lugano Declaration) and the need to involve civil society to achieve success in reforming and rebuilding a post-war Ukraine, built on a strong democratic foundation.

Yuliia Bankova Yuliia Bankova
Oleksandra Matviychuk Oleksandra Matviychuk
Andriy Dligach Andriy Dligach
Svitlana Matviyenko Svitlana Matviyenko
09:00 - 09:30 Committee of the Regions

Registration for the Morning Sessions

09:30 - 09:35 Committee of the Regions

Video Message by Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

09:35 - 09:55 Committee of the Regions

Keynote Speech by Rana Ayyub, Journalist, Washington Post

Rana Ayyub Rana Ayyub
09:55 - 10:20 Committee of the Regions

Context Session: Shada Islam Interviews Richard Youngs, Senior fellow, Carnegie Europe and Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director, European Endowment for Democracy

Jerzy Pomianowski Jerzy Pomianowski
Richard Youngs Richard Youngs
Shada Islam Shada Islam
10:20 - 11:30 Committee of the Regions

International Panel on Democracy in Era of Geopolitics

In this inaugural session of the 2022 edition of International Democracy Day in Brussels, experts will lay out the geopolitical context of this watershed moment for democracy and high-level representatives from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America will discuss possible solutions to the challenges of this new era of geopolitics.

Christina Kokkinakis Christina Kokkinakis
Imad Daimi Imad Daimi
David Salvo David Salvo
Shada Islam Shada Islam
Rana Ayyub Rana Ayyub
11:30 - 11:45 Committee of the Regions

Coffee Break

11:45 - 13:00 Committee of the Regions

EU Presidencies and the EU External Democracy Agenda: Seizing Momentum for Democratic Change (International IDEA)

This workshop aims at gathering insights on the EU democracy agenda 2022 and 2023 and recommendations from the Brussels democracy community and stakeholders for shaping future agendas. The session will be moderated on the basis of guiding questions.

Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin
Neal Mac Call Neal Mac Call
David Červenka David Červenka
13:00 - 14:00 Committee of the Regions

Lunch Break and Registration for Afternoon Session

14:00 - 16:00 Committee of the Regions

The 50%’s Voice: Launch of the Youth Political and Civic Engagement Cohort (EPD)

The European Commission and the European Partnership for Democracy have launched the Youth Political and Civic Engagement Cohort as part of the Summit for Democracy’s Year of Action to take action toward implementing Summit for Democracy commitments on youth political and civic engagement. This session will launch the Youth Cohort and discuss avenues for meaningful dialogue and collaboration between many types of actors working to advance democratic participation of youth across the globe. Bringing together youth activists in the EU and globally as well as key decision-makers involved in youth engagement worldwide, this session will be an opportunity for debate and collaboration on the issue of youth political engagement. It will be livestreamed here

Qyira Yusri Qyira Yusri
Jutta Urpilainen Jutta Urpilainen
Valeriu Drăgălin Valeriu Drăgălin
Ken Godfrey Ken Godfrey
Bama Athreya Bama Athreya
Aisha Dabo Aisha Dabo
11:00 - 12:30 Online

Hybrid Threats to Democracy (ENoP)

With the urgency to stand for democracy, this session will explore the non-military notion of ‘’hybrid threats to democracy’’. It will bring representatives from the EU institutions and experts from political foundations and their partners to discuss how to respond to disinformation threats and foreign election interventions. It will also look into our role as political foundations in empowering civil society and political actors in facing such realities, and discuss the role of China and Russia in this new geopolitical context

Ivana Karaskova Ivana Karaskova
Milosz Hodun Milosz Hodun
Milan Jovanović Milan Jovanović
Lisa Gürth Lisa Gürth

Speakers

Christina Kokkinakis

Deputy Managing Director Global and Director for Values and Multilateral relations, European External Action Service (EEAS)

Qyira Yusri

Education Director and Co Founder of UNDI18

Imad Daimi

President, Raqabah Observatory

Jutta Urpilainen

European Commissioner for International Partnerships

Valeriu Drăgălin

President, European Democracy Youth Network

Ken Godfrey

Executive Director, European Partnership for Democracy (EPD)

Bama Athreya

Deputy Assistant Administrator, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub and Inclusive Development Hub, USAID

Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin

Sweden’s ambassador for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law

David Salvo

Deputy Director, Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund.

Jerzy Pomianowski

Executive Director, European Endowment for Democracy (EED)

Yuliia Bankova

Chief Editor, Liga.net

Neal Mac Call

Head of Division Democracy and Electoral Observation, European External Action Service

David Červenka

Director for Human Rights and Transition Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic

Aisha Dabo

Co-founder and Coordinator of AfricTivistes

Ivana Karaskova

Project Lead and China Analyst, Association for International Affairs (AMO)

Oleksandra Matviychuk

Head of the Board, Center for Civil Liberties

Milosz Hodun

President, Projekt: Polska Foundation

Milan Jovanović

Senior researcher, Digital Forensic Center

Andriy Dligach

Co-Founder, Center for Economic Recovery

Svitlana Matviyenko

Chairwoman, Agency for Legislative Analysis

Lisa Gürth

Deputy Director of Russia Programme, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Richard Youngs

Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Shada Islam

Managing Director, New Horizons Project Geopolitical Strategy Advice and Analysis

Rana Ayyub

Journalist

Latest news

Organising Partners

With the support of