Manifesto
Democracy Under Threat – Call to Action
- Develop, in a joint commitment between government and civil society organizations, an integrated long-term strategy for democracy support and promotion
- Establish a new position at Dutch government level and at EU-level for a Special Envoy for Democracy
- Make democracy central in foreign policy, climate agenda, peacebuilding, development aid and reconstruction, not subordinated to economic or (geo)political interests
- Defend and apply the EU Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism
- Create better, more direct democratic models of governing, such as citizens panels, assemblies and initiatives following the “nothing about us without us” principle
- Design a national anti-corruption program, correcting (Dutch) laws facilitating international corruption
- Support more critical voices in autocracies and dissidents in diaspora
- Empower the next generation of active citizens through civic education, and empower the next generation politicians and civic activists through training, specifically underrepresented groups
- Shift more resources to pro-democracy actors at local and subnational levels
- Support sanctions but no total isolation of ordinary citizens – no new Cold War
- Put democracy, rule of law and human rights at the top of EU and CoE policy
- Include displaced communities and exiled professionals in a citizen-centered, bottom-up and inclusive reconstruction of Ukraine
- Increase the MATRA-NFRP grants for democracy in the European neighborhood
- Set up an independent Dutch fund for democracy, human rights, rule of law and anti-corruption.
- Include the interests of future generations in all their diversity in decision-making processes
- Fight technological threats to democracy and security, and use technologies that innovate, defend and strengthen democracy.