WFD Youth Delegation 2023

The World Forum for Democracy is a unique platform for political decision-makers and activists to debate solutions to key challenges for democracies worldwide. By identifying and analyzing experimental initiatives and practices, the Forum highlights and encourages democratic innovations at the grassroots and their transfer on a systemic level to strengthen the foundations of democratic societies. The Forum thus contributes to the evolution of democracy towards more participatory and inclusive structures and institutions.

During the 2023 edition of the World Forum on Democracy, the question in focus is “Can democracy guarantee and deliver peace?”

The core content of the Forum will consist of discussions about successful initiatives and actions, which have real-life initiatives as a starting point. General guiding principles will then be drawn to encourage and support future policy responses and field action. In this context, the Youth Department of the Council of Europe will invite and prepare a delegation of young people to participate and engage with decision-makers and opinion formers in a reflection on the question of “Democracy=Peace?”.

Some of the key issues that will be faced at this edition of the World Forum for Democracy are:

Democracy untended
The idea that democracy is a guarantee of peace is widely shared, but is today under threat. Have democracies adapted themselves to face the risks which are themselves evolving? While some of the most terrible aspects of war remain, the nature of conflict has also changed with the use of drones, cyber-warfare, and the deployment of nearly imperceptible propaganda across social media. For peace to be a real force to be reckoned with, it must itself be waged with conviction. But how? Should we not cultivate democracy in our daily practices, in education, the workplace, our civic, and sporting life, etc? Shouldn’t the values of democracy, and the institutions which support them, be closely reflective of the real experiences and aspirations of the citizens who cherish them? Women and children are too often the tragic faces of war’s devastation, but their voices are rarely heard in the political debates, peace negotiations, and peace-building processes. If democracy and peace are processes or a way of life, then there is surely a need to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for people to actively engage, participate and contribute to its survival. But how? Can we teach peace?

Peaceful Societies?
Injustice and inequality are themselves a perpetual source of conflict. Democracies have delivered the highest standards for human and civil rights in our history. The impressive rise in living standards in the last decades has meanwhile been accompanied by rapidly growing income and wealth disparities. Social and economic rights are therefore now at the center of debates. In some democracies, poverty is increasing, and many citizens feel that their societies are sliding backward. Is this in and of itself, a threat to peace? Is a peaceful society not only a society without war but also one where citizens live with the peace of mind that comes with security and opportunity? How do we get there? How to avoid the wounds of the past becoming the source of injustice in the present; that remembrance serves not only to reduce conflict but also to build durable peace? Can democracy’s particular assets such as equality, citizen participation, the rule of law, and freedom of expression, be put to better advantage in the waging of peace?

International Communities for a Democratic Security?
Economic, political, and rights-based partnerships such as the European Union and the Council of Europe have been instrumental in ensuring peace for their democratic member states. So too have defense alliances. But when conflict rages in so many parts of the world, why hasn’t the multilateral model succeeded more broadly? Should international organizations be redesigned? Is there a model for the multilateral association which is both deep in its mutual obligations and broad in its inclusiveness and scope of action? Might the rise of cross-border communities of other kinds, often citizen-led and facilitated by technology, be another route to preventing conflict? The fact remains that democratic security is today the most decisive factor of peace; how to define it, build it, and defend it?

The Youth Department is part of the Directorate of Democratic Participation within the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity (“DGII”) of the Council of Europe. The Department elaborates guidelines, programs, and legal instruments for the development of coherent and effective youth policies at local, national, and European levels.

It provides funding and educational support for international youth activities aiming to promote youth citizenship, youth mobility, and the values of human rights, democracy, and cultural pluralism. It seeks to bring together and disseminate expertise and knowledge about the life situations, aspirations, and ways of expression of young Europeans.