Clinton Promotes Democracy

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is planning to travel to Budapest, Hungary on June 29th to discuss democracy promotion in the region.  She will be supporting the Lantos Institute and it’s dedication to democratic principles and the protection of individual and human rights.  In addition, she will travel to Vilnius, Lithuania on June 30th to participate in the Community of Democracies Sixth Ministerial, and will be joined by senior government officials, parliamentarians, NGOs, women and youth leaders. They will discuss strengthening the civil society and supporting new democracies forming in the region.  Clinton will also participate in the Women Enhancing Democracy meeting of world leaders.  In addition, she will be holding a session with the Strategic Dialogue of Civil Society, which will focus on the challenges citizens face with freedoms of speech and association. The initiative called the Democracy Partnership Challenge, will create a new race for emerging democracies that will encourage other nations that support countries in transition to come together and focus on Tunisia and Moldova for its first year.  This initiative will facilitate a discussion about how ministers, leaders and the civil society in Vilnius can support transitions in Tunisia and Moldova.

At the press briefing on Friday, Tomicah S. Tillemann, the senior advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies, announced the establishment of a $1 million fund called the Lifefine, the Embattled NGO Assistance Fund that will provide financial support for advocacy initiatives and will support individual NGOs when they are in trouble by providing legal assistance, trial observation, etc.  There are currently 12 other governments supporting the Lifeline Fund by matching the $1 million fund including, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Lithuania, etc.  In addition, seven international NGO’s will help implement this effort.