IRI Contributes to Malian Community of
Democracies Conference Preparations

September 6, 2006

To help guide preparations and provide recommendations for the 2007 Community of Democracies Biennial Conference, the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Nigeria Resident Country Director Matthias Naab participated in the Bamako Roundtable on Democracy in Africa, hosted by the Council for a Community of Democracies and the Mali-based nongovernmental executive secretariat of the Community of Democracies. Roundtable recommendations will be presented to Community of Democracies member governments at the United Nations on September 20, 2006.

The purpose of the event was to define, address and advance the democracy agenda for Africa and stimulate a continent-wide dialogue on democracy in the lead-up to the Community of Democracies Biennial Conference next year. The roundtable is one of many Community of Democracies planning events that will focus on bringing together African democracy experts from academia, the practitioner community and international organizations.

Naab participated in a panel discussion along with representatives from the National Democratic Institute and the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy on political party and civil society partnership.

The Community of Democracies is an intergovernmental organization of democratic countries committed to strengthening democracy worldwide.

###

A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing democracy worldwide