Agree to Differ

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] 14

The democracy relay: around the

world in eight projects

Annika Savill, Executive Head ad interim, United Nations Democracy Fund

t is said that it takes two to speak the truth: one to

talk, and another to hear. My work with the United

Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) has brought home

to me that a lively and open discussion among ordinary

men and women sitting under a tree can sometimes do

more for intercultural understanding than all the govern-

ment summit meetings in the world.

When grass-roots activists, community organizers, youth and

women leaders and labour mobilizers come together on their

own initiative, they will persevere to ensure that voices on

both sides are heard. It is those constituencies that make up

the family of UNDEF, a grant-making entity established by the

United Nations Secretary-General in 2005 as a United Nations

General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around

the world. UNDEF supports projects that strengthen the voice

of civil society, promote the rule of law and human rights,

and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic

processes. The large majority of UNDEF funds go to local civil

society organizations – both in the transition and consolidation

phases of democratization. In this way, UNDEF plays a novel and

unique role in complementing the United Nations’ other, more

traditional work – the work with Governments – to strengthen

governance around the world. It strengthens the demand side

of the democracy equation rather than the supply side. UNDEF

subsists entirely on voluntary contributions from governments,

including many middle- and low-income states in Africa, Asia

and Latin America. In eight rounds of funding so far, UNDEF

has supported almost 600 two-year projects in more than 150

countries. All the projects are conceived and proposed by the

grantees themselves, the vast majority local civil groups.

While each UNDEF-funded project reaches a few thousand

direct beneficiaries, these in turn go on to inspire, train and

encourage thousands more – creating a mass relay effect some-

times spreading through a whole country. Many of the projects

focus on dialogue and exchange between groups that may never

have talked to each other before. Each side takes its turn to speak

and to hear–sometimes even sitting under a tree. Let me take you

on a quick tour around the world to give you just a few examples.

We start in one of the largest and most diverse countries of

the Asia-Pacific region: Indonesia, an archipelago comprising

thousands of islands and hundreds of distinct native ethnic and

linguistic groups. At the end of 30 years of tension and conflict in

the province of Aceh, the traditional inter-village institutions for

decision-making on lands and resources, known as Mukims, were

legally recognized. Yet the Mukims still struggle to exercise their

rights, in particular over natural resource management. This is

compounded by disputes over commercial use of traditional farm

and forest land. UNDEF supports an initiative by local non-govern-

mental organization (NGO) Perkumpulan Prodeelat for grass-roots

Image: UNDEF

In Nepal, UNDEF funds a project by Development Exchange Centre Nepal to empower Chepang women to become change agents in local governance processes

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