Notes below were distributed at a Press Conference held at Delhi Press Club on 4 September 2010

The Building Global Democracy Programme

Many of the key challenges in contemporary society are global in nature: climate change, economic crises, food security, disease, migration, social violence and war. But there is little democracy in global politics. A peasant working in the Ganges Delta has no say on climate change or global trade. An e-mailer in Delhi has no say on how the Internet is governed. A bank customer in Mumbai has no say in rules of global finance. How to build a world where the people can rule their more global lives?

BGD is a multi-year programme to explore how people can participate and control global affairs. It is coordinated through a convening group with members from 10 world regions. BGD prepares workshops, policy toolkits, public events, online materials, books to help activists, journalists, officials, researchers and the general public advance global democracy.

The Citizen Learning for Global Democracy Workshop

On 1-3 September 2010 the Building Global Democracy programme convened a discussion in Delhi, India to explore learning processes that could enhance democracy in a more global world. In line with BGD’s aim to promote really global engagements, the Delhi discussion involved 50 persons from 28 countries spread across all world regions. The group was also richly diverse in age, culture, gender, political orientation, race and vocation.

We looked at different ways that people (especially marginalized people) can become aware and empowered about global politics. We explored examples such as a university programme in India, new digital media in Russia, satellite television in the Arab world, a grassroots education among peasants in Brazil, an NGO programme in China, a social forum in Europe, and indigenous peoples’ thinking. Many unique and exciting insights and ideas for action came out of this encounter. Maybe we can discuss them.

Moving Forward

The Delhi meeting was preceded by workshops at the Belem World Social Forum and in Cairo, Egypt where the dynamics of building global democracy was the focus of dialogue. The Delhi meeting conclusions are going to be connected with the next interaction among the concerned groups at Rio de Janeiro in April 2011. Further projects and workshops are planned in Africa and Russia.

Photographs are available on: www.flickr.com/photos/b_gd

For further information please telephone: 261 255 83

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delhi workshop  |   building global democracy programme