International Conference on Democracy, Political Reforms and Freedom of Expression

Background paper - Sana'a, 25- 26 June 2006


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Government of Yemen, in partnership with the Yemeni non-governmental partner Human Rights Information and Training Centre (HRITC), and together with the international non-governmental organisation No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), convened a Conference on Democracy, Political Reforms and Freedom of Expression to be held in Sana’a, Yemen, on 25-26 June 2006, within the framework of the Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD) sponsored by Yemen, Italy and Turkey. The conference was organised with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the G8 Countries, UNDP and the World Bank.
The purpose of the Sana’a joint conference was to assess progress made in dialogue for democratic reform since the Sana’a 2004 Conference, facilitating and reinforcing the various initiatives carried out in the Region in the last years. This exercise was undertaken with a view to deepen the constructive cooperation between governments and non-state actors as the two necessary components of a partnership for change on issues of democratic reform. The Sana’a joint conference therefore sought to recognise and to consolidate the important achievements of a broad series of initiatives supported by the International Community and implemented throughout the Region by several regional and national actors. Furthermore, the Conference sought to encourage the further development of a tradition and practice of systematic consultation between governments and non-state actors. The Conference provided an occasion to present the topic of freedom of expression as a priority issue as well as evaluating the activities on the themes identified for the first year of the DAD program, namely political pluralism and electoral processes and the participation of women in public life.
Participants included governments of all BMENA countries, the G8 and other partners, international organisations and non-state actors, including politicians, parliamentarians, academics, intellectuals, democracy advocates, NGO leaders, opinion makers, media professionals and others.
 
Background
The Sana’a Inter-Governmental Conference on Democracy, Human Rights and the Role of the ICC of January 2004 (Sana’a 2004 Conference) was a pioneering moment, in that it included the participation of civil society representatives within a Regional Governmental Conference on issues of democratic reform. Indeed, government participants emphasised in the Final Declaration that, “Proper democratic governance and respect for human rights require a freely functioning, wellorganised, vibrant and responsible civil society”.
Following the Sana’a 2004 Conference and various initiatives carried out by a wide variety of actors from across the BMENA Region, the Sea Island Summit in June 2004 adopted a Resolution establishing the Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD), co-sponsored by the Governments of Yemen, Turkey and Italy. The DAD co-sponsors and their non-governmental partners, No Peace Without Justice (“NPWJ”, Italy), the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (“TESEV”, Turkey) and the Human Rights Information and Training Centre (“HRITC”, Yemen), developed a program of activities designed to foster productive dialogue between governments and non-state actors of the BMENA Region, by integrating the participation of politicians and parliamentarians, academics, intellectuals, democracy advocates, NGO leaders, opinion makers, media professionals and others in governmental discussions on issues of political reform, democracy and human rights.
Responding to the aspirations expressed by both governments and non-state actors in the Region, the DAD program breaks down the aim to provide support to the growing momentum for reform in the Region into a number of component themes that can be tackled productively. The two themes identified as priorities for the first year of DAD activities were the participation of women in public life; and political pluralism and electoral processes. The first theme was implemented by the Government of Turkey and TESEV; the second by the Government of Italy and NPWJ; while the Government of Yemen and HRITC took responsibility for the organisation, with the assistance of NPWJ, of a joint conference of governments and civil society, which will draw from all previous activities and launch follow-up initiatives, as well as presenting the topic of freedom of expression as a priority theme for further activities.
In order to promote productive dialogue between government and non-state actors on these issues, the DAD partners developed a two-stage consultation process. During the first stage, civil society developed an agenda for discussion with governments by holding civil society workshops in Venice (on political pluralism and electoral processes) and in Istanbul (on the participation of women in public life). During the second stage, the governments organised thematic conferences, at which non-state actors and high-level government representatives interacted on a peer-to-peer basis, to share priorities and expectations on the specific themes. The Rabat International Colloquium on Political Pluralism and Electoral Processes was organised by Italy and Morocco, in cooperation with NPWJ and the political think-tank “Maroc 2020”, in October 2005 on the first theme; the Intergovernmental Conference on Empowering Women in Public Life in BMENA was organised by Turkey in cooperation with TESEV in May 2006 in Ankara on the second theme.
In June 2006, the Government of Yemen, in partnership with HRITC, and together with NPWJ, organised the Sana’a joint conference, which provided an occasion to present the topic of freedom of expression and to evaluate the activities carried out during the first year of the DAD program.