ICDT

International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT)

About the ICDT

The ICDT is a non-profit organization based in Budapest which collects the experiences of past democratic transitions and shares them with those who are determined to follow that path. Instead of promoting democracy in general, the ICDT sets more concrete and pragmatic goals, concentrating on democratic transition as a process. The Centre strives to show how dozens of young democracies have made and are making the transition, so that those who set off on this difficult journey from dictatorship to democracy in the future may learn from the successes as well as the failures.

Mission Statement

The ICDT was founded in Central Europe. In this region we are acutely aware of the complexity of democratic transition as we have recently undergone this process and know full well the fragility of new democracies. We believe that a transition is successful when the whole society benefits from the process. The ICDT’s mission is to facilitate the smooth and peaceful process of democratic transition based on participatory principles, the political, economic, legal, cultural, and civil societal aspects of transformation, and the socio-cultural context of regions and countries where the process takes place.

History

The idea to establish an institute to collect and share the experiences of past democratic transitions originated from former US Ambassador Mark Palmer, Vice President of the Council for a Community of Democracies (CCD). His proposal was followed by a meeting between the Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs and the US Secretary of State in June 2004. At a conference in Budapest in March 2005 civil society and governmental leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the USA, as well as representatives of a number of international organizations approved the concept paper on the new Centre. Subsequently, the idea was presented by the Hungarian Foreign Minister at the Third Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Santiago de Chile. Once again, the idea was well received and endorsed by the participating Foreign Ministers, representing more than 100 democratic governments of the world. Finally, in September 2005, the Hungarian president announced at the World Summit of the United Nations that “an International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) has been set up in Budapest.”

Operation Method

The ICDT:
* Facilitates the process of democratic transition by using the knowledge pool of transitional experiences and by sharing best practices,
* Convenes the most important indigenous stakeholders to play key roles in the transition process,
* Provides an adaptable toolbox and appropriate models for the creation and consolidation of democratic institutions,
* Mediates between cultures and regions by generating dialogue.

Key Achievements

* Successfully implemented seven projects on three continents affecting over 15 countries and currently manages half a dozen projects worldwide
* Organized and hosted 9 major conferences & seminars to raise awareness about transition issues with the participation of over 1000 people
* Implemented projects with a value of 800.000 EUR
* Convened and engaged more than 40 world democracies through its Governmental Advisory Board
* Earned the trust of leading democracies like the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, the Republic of Korea, the USA, and Canada
* Secured support from international organizations such as the UN Democracy Fund, OAS and OSCE
* Partnered with non-governmental institutions, among others, the Council for a Community of Democracies, Freedom House, the Club of Madrid, the King Baudouin Foundation, and the European Policy Centre

Program Areas

Interregional Cooperation
Promoting interregional cooperation between governments and civil societies of neighboring countries to enable democratic transition and to ensure regional stability.

Toolbox for Democracy
Providing technical assistance and learning opportunities to new and fragile democracies, concentrating on particular and practical elements of democracy such as elections and freedom of speech.

Sustainable Democracy
Strengthening the involvement of marginalized groups such as minorities, women and other unprotected social groups in both the transition process and the functioning of democracy.

International Board

The International Board of Directors of the Centre consists of prominent personalities from the areas of international politics, economics, the arts and the sciences.

Chairperson
H.E. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Vice-President of the European Parliament, former Minister of Defense, Poland
Members
H.E. Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, Chair, The Albright Group, USA
Mr. Daniel Bader, Director, Helen Bader Foundation, USA
H.E. Donald Blinken, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Budapest, USA
The Right Hon. Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister, Canada
Mr. Gustavo A. Cisneros, Chairperson and CEO of the Cisneros Group of Companies, Venezuela
Prof. Emil Constantinescu, former President of Romania 1996-2000
Mr. Joel H. Cowan, President of Habersham & Cowan. Inc, USA
H.E. Jayantha Dhanapala, former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Honorary President of the International Peace Bureau, Sri Lanka
† H.E. Prof. Bronislaw Geremek, MEP, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Solidarity Member, Poland
Mr. MS Gill, former Chief of The Election Commission of India, Member, Rajya Sabha, India
H.E. György Habsburg; Archduke Georg of Austria, Ambassador, Hungary
Mr. Andrey Illarionov, former Economic Policy Advisor to the President of Russia, Director of the Institute of Economic Analysis in Moscow, Russia
H.E. President Ricardo Lagos, Former President of the Republic of Chile, Chile
Ms. Sonja Licht, President, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, Serbia
H.E. János Martonyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hungary
Mr. Markus Meckel, last Minister of Foreign Affairs of the GDR, Deputy Foreign Policy Speaker of the SPD, Germany
H.E. Mark Palmer, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Hungary, USA
Mr. Thomas S. Rooney, Former CEO of Insituform Technologies, USA
Dr. Sima Samar, Chairperson, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghanistan
H.E. Narcís Serra, former Vice-President of the Spanish Government, President of CIDOB Foundation, Spain
HRH Prince Hassan bin Al Talal, President, Club of Rome, Jordan
Mr. Borys Tarasyuk, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine
Mr. Maximilian Teleki, President, Hungarian-American Coalition, USA
H.E. George Herbert Walker, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Hungary, USA
Mr. Sundeep Waslekar, President, Strategic Foresight Group, India
H.E. John C. Whitehead, Former Deputy Secretary of State, USA

Honorary Members
H.E. Michel Barnier, Minister of Agriculture, President, Nouvelle République, France
The Hon. Judge Alexander Boraine, formerly Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa
H.E. Nancy Brinker, White House Chief of Protocol, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Budapest, USA
H.E. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President, Estonia

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee of the ICDT consists of five internationally recognized figures from the scientific and public arenas, elected for a term of three years by the International Board.

Chairperson
Mrs. Sonja Licht, President and Founder of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence
Members
Mr. Iván Bába, former State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Editor-at-Large, Budapest Analyses
Mr. Daniel Bader, Director, Helen Bader Foundation, USA
Mr. Richard C. Rowson, President, Council for a Community of Democracies
H.E. András Simonyi, former Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to the United States of America

Governmental Advisory Board

The members of the GAB represent their governments. This body serves as an organized form of communication with the democratic governments of the world. So far over 40 democracies have delegated a representative to the ICDT’s Governmental Advisory Board, which advises and appraises the work of the Centre and makes proposals for specific projects.

External links

*ICDT Homepage: [http://www.icdt.hu/]
*ICDT - The Movie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1jpKytYG0Q]
*ICDT Brochure 2005-2007: [http://icdt.hu/device_docs/ICDT_Brochure_2007.pdf]
*ICDT Newsletter April 2008: [http://icdt.hu/device_docs/ICDT_Newsletter_April_2008.pdf]
*ICDT Newsletter June 2008: [http://icdt.hu/device_docs/ICDT_Newsletter_June_2008.pdf]