News

As the outgoing Chair of the Community of Democracies, this summer Lithuania organizes many various international events that are dedicated to the promotion of democracy: Community of Democracies Ministerial, Women Enhancing Democracy event, Parliamentary Forum, Youth Forum, Corporate Democracy Forum and Civil Society Forum. On 30 June, the high level women’s leadership conference “Women Enhancing Democracy: Best Practices” will take place at the Presidential Palace. The conference will be opened by President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Finland Tarja Halonen and the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The event is organized by Lithuania in cooperation with the Council of Women World Leaders, Vilnius-based European Institute for Gender Equality, U.S. Department of State, European and U.S. non-governmental organizations.

Participants of the conference will discuss ways and means to increase women’s participation in the public sphere. Among the topics of the event there are: the promotion of women’s economic independence, combating violence against women and trafficking in human beings.

On 1 July, the sixth ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies “Community of Democracies: Empowered, Energized, Engaged” will take place at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Convention Centre LITEXPO. The conference will focus on the strengthening of the Community of Democracies and enhancing its activities. Special attention will be given to emerging democracies and civil society’s involvement in governance.

At the meeting in Vilnius, which is expected to be attended by about 900 participants, Lithuania will officially hand over the two-year Presidency of the Community of Democracies to Mongolia.

On June 29 and July 1, the Youth Forum “Young Leaders in Support for Democracy: Challenges and Possibilities”, Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies “The Road to Democracy: Role of the Community of Democracies’ Parliamentary Forum” and the first session of the Corporate Democracy Forum will also take place in Vilnius.

The Community of Democracies unites almost one hundred and fifty democratic and democratizing countries around the world. The activity of the Community of Democracies is based on the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Warsaw Declaration of 2000.

Media representatives who wish to cover the final events of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Community of Democracies can find information about accreditation here.