Media Coverage
U.N. Democracy Fund Officially Inaugurated
Associated Press -- 6 March
UNITED NATIONS -- A U.N. fund proposed by President Bush to promote democracy around the world was inaugurated Monday with pledges of $41 million.
Bush urged the creation of such a fund in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in 2004, saying it could help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law, independent courts, a free press, political parties and trade unions.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan set up the United Nations Democracy Fund last July and world leaders endorsed it a few months later. On Monday, Annan presided at the first meeting of its 17-member advisory board, which will select projects in different countries that strengthen democratic institutions and enhance democratic government.
''This is something that we think could have an impact in the real world and it's a high priority for the United States to make this fund a success,'' U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.
The United States believes it's important that emerging democracies that want assistance come up with projects and nominate themselves to get funding, ''so that we can see who is most interested and most eager,'' he said.
''The real measure of success of the Democracy Fund will be the concrete, tangible advancement of democracy around the world,'' Bolton said. ''If it turns into a talking shop, it will be a failure.''
The fund has received contributions and pledges from 17 countries, with India and the United States each giving $10 million.
Bolton said the generous pledge from India -- the world's largest democracy -- was ''a sign of the increasingly close relationship between India and the United States.'' He said the United States will contribute about $8 million later this year.
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, said the fund will lead to action and complement other U.N. human rights institutions and the new Peacebuilding Commission to help countries emerging from conflict.
''We expect the fund to act quickly now and to come out with some concrete projects that make a difference on the ground,'' said Germany's U.N. Ambassador Gunter Pleuger.
The projects will be assessed by the fund's staff, he said, and ''it is extremely important to ... make sure that human rights are observed and that structures are created that allow for democratic checks and balances.''
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More than 41 million dollars pledged to UN Democracy Fund
Agence France Presse -- 6 March
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations said Monday it had received more than 41 million dollars (35 million euros) in pledges for its Democracy Fund which it hailed as an "innovative" mechanism for promoting democracy.
The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) was launched by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last July to help countries prepare and hold elections.
Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNDEF's 17-member advisory board met Monday to review its governance and program arrangements and he announced that pledges of more than 41 million dollars had been received from 17 countries.
The fund is to be used to finance projects to empower civil society, bolster the rule of law, boost popular participation and ensure that people are able to exercise their democratic rights, he added.
He said Annan views it as "an innovative and flexible mechanism for advancing the UN democracy agenda".
Sitting on the board are main fund contributors such as Australia, France, Germany, India, Qatar and the United States, but also Benin, Chile, Hungary and South Africa to ensure geographic diversity.
"This fund is obviously a very high priority for the US," US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton told reporters. "The US along with India has made a 10-million dollar contribution. We're prepared to make a further pledge in 2006 of another 7.9 million dollars."
"We want to be sure that we set a standard of performance here," Bolton added.
"This is a rare opportunity in the UN system but it gives us the chance to try and do things a little bit differently as part of the reform process, to look for tangible results, for concrete manifestations, projects that really advance democracy," he said.
He said that it was important for countries "that want assistance as emerging democracies to nominate themselves and come up with projects so that we can see who's really most interested and most eager."
"We have made a considerable contribution and we are one of the few who have remitted that money already," said Germany's UN envoy Gunter Pleuger. "Therefore we would like to see projects that make a difference and can be put to use quickly".
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UN's new Democracy Fund is officially inaugurated with $41 million
The Canadian Press -- 6 March
UNITED NATIONS -- A UN fund proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush to promote democracy around the world was inaugurated Monday with pledges of $41 million US.
Bush urged the creation of such a fund in a speech to the UN General Assembly in 2004, saying it could help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law, independent courts, a free press, political parties and trade unions.
Secretary General Kofi Annan set up the United Nations Democracy Fund last July and world leaders endorsed it a few months later. On Monday, Annan presided at the first meeting of its 17-member advisory board, which will select projects in different countries that strengthen democratic institutions and enhance democratic government.
``This is something that we think could have an impact in the real world and it's a high priority for the United States to make this fund a success,'' U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.
The fund has received contributions and pledges from 17 countries, with India and the United States each giving $10 million.
Bolton said the generous pledge from India _ the world's largest democracy _ was ``a sign of the increasingly close relationship between India and the United States.'' He said the United States will contribute about $8 million later this year.
French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said the fund will lead to action and complement other UN human rights institutions and the new Peacebuilding Commission to help countries emerging from conflict.
``We expect the fund to act quickly now and to come out with some concrete projects that make a difference on the ground,'' said German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger.
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UN Puts Democracy Fund into Action
Voice of America Press Releases and Documents -- 6 March
United Nations -- The United Nations has launched a democracy promotion fund to help developing countries strengthen democratic institutions.
President Bush introduced the idea of a Democracy Fund in 2004. Secretary-General Kofi Annan took up the cause last year, and world leaders endorsed the concept at the U.N. anniversary summit.
The fund began work Monday with a closed meeting of the 17-member advisory board that will provide policy guidance and recommend funding proposals.
The Democracy Fund operates differently from development aid programs in that it will not impose projects on a country, but will accept proposals from the countries themselves.
The operation is beginning with an initial $32-million budget, almost all of it donated by three countries, the United States, India and Australia. Another $8 million has been pledged by the government of Qatar.
Washington's U.N. ambassador John Bolton came out of Monday's meeting calling the fund a rare opportunity to start afresh with projects that produce tangible results in advancing democracy.
"We have lot of meetings at the U.N., we write documents the U.N., we do a lot of studies at the U.N," said John Bolton. "We'd like to see practical, tangible,concrete outcomes that go beyond meetings and papers and analyses. So that's what we're going to be suggesting as we continue our deliberations and look at the opening suggestions for projects. This is something that we think could have an impact in real world, and it's a high priority for the United States to make this fund a success."
Germany's U.N. Ambassador Gunther Pleuger said his government hopes to see the fund produce measurable results more quickly than traditional aid programs.
"We expect the fund to act quickly to come out with concrete projects that make a difference on the ground," said Gunther Pleuger. "We would like to see projects that make a difference and can be put to use quickly."
Another advisory board member, Benin's U.N. ambassador Simon B. Idohou, said he was encouraged that the Democracy Fund could help in strengthening efforts to decentralize power, which he called a "great national project" for his west African country. He pointed proudly to Benin's presidential elections held Sunday.
Ambassador Idohou called the fund a great thing for what he called "young democracies" - countries that have recently adopted new ways of organizing their societies and which need help in establishing democratic structures.
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Democracy Fund launched with €34m
The Irish Examiner -- 7 March
The UN’s newly-created Democracy Fund was officially inaugurated yesterday with pledges of $41m (€34.5m) to start promoting democratic institutions and practices around the world.
US President George Bush proposed the creation of a Democracy Fund in a speech to the UN General Assembly in September 2004, saying it could help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law, independent courts, a free press, political parties and trade unions.
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan set up the United Nations Democracy Fund last July and world leaders endorsed it at their summit in September.
Yesterday, Mr Annan presided at the first meeting of its 17-member advisory board, which will select projects in different countries that strengthen democratic institutions and enhance democratic government.
US Ambassador John Bolton said: "This is something that we think could have an impact in the real world and it’s a high priority for the United States to make this fund a success."
The US believes it is important that emerging democracies that want assistance come up with projects and nominate themselves to get funding, "so that we can see who is most interested and most eager".
"The real measure of success of the Democracy Fund will be the concrete, tangible advancement of democracy around the world," Mr Bolton said. "If it turns into a talking shop, it will be a failure."
The fund has received contributions and pledges from 17 countries, with India and the US each giving $10m (€8.4m).
Qatar contributed $2m (€1.7m) and pledged an additional $8m (€6.7m), Australia gave $7.3m (€6.1m), and Germany $1.6m (€1.3m). France pledged about $1.2m (€1m) and has already given half.
Mr Bolton said the US was pleased that India – the world’s largest democracy - made a pledge equal to the US, saying "it’s a sign of the increasingly close relationship between India and the US".
He said the US will contribute an additional $7.9m (€6.6m) to the fund this year.
Other contributors were Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Slovenia and Britain. Bulgaria pledged $10,000 (€8,400).
The advisory board is made up of the fund’s major contributors, countries selected by Mr Annan to ensure geographical representation, two non-governmental organisations and four representatives of the secretary-general.
France’s UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said the fund will lead to action and complement other UN human rights institutions and the new Peacebuilding Commission to help countries emerging from conflict.
Germany’s UN Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said: "We expect the fund to act quickly now and to come out with some concrete projects that make a difference on the ground."
The projects will be assessed by the fund’s staff, he said, and "it is extremely important to … make sure that human rights are observed and that structures are created that allow for democratic checks and balances".
Benin’s UN Ambassador, Bodehousse Simon Idohou, an advisory board member chosen to represent Africa, said his country has chosen democracy and "the fund can help in strengthening the process of decentralisation of power in Benin, which is a very great national project for us".
The fund should focus on "the young democracies", he said, and help reform their institutions that aren’t functioning correctly and "strengthen the democratic way of governing the country".
Mr Bolton was asked whether the US was still anxious to promote democracy after the results of democratic elections in Egypt, Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
"Democracy is democracy," he replied. "Sometimes, in the US, democracy produces results that I don’t like either.
"Democracy is not just about elections. It’s about a broader pattern of ... support for human rights and the rule of law, respect for the rights and opinions of minorities, and I think that’s one reason why we’re so excited about the Democracy Fund."
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