NPWJ contributes to a Policy Insight on “The Democratic West - Still a role model for developing and emerging countries?”

 
On Thursday 8 September 2016, No Peace Without Justice contributed to a Policy Insight on “The Democratic West – Still a role model for developing and emerging countries?” organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts in Brussels. Speakers to the panel discussion, which was moderated by Shada Islam, Director of Policy at Friends of Europe, included Heidi Hautala, Member of the European Parliament, Committee on Development, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, President of the Kudirat Initiative For Democracy and Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor, Nigeria, and Niccolò A. Figà-Talamanca, Secretary General of No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ).
 
The key questions addressed during the discussion were whether and why the Western democratic model lost its attractiveness for developing and emerging countries, whether non-Western governance models are the solution for struggling democratic nations and what the West can do in its internal and external policies to promote its liberal democratic values.
 
The interventions focused on the importance of the core values of democracy and how these values still retain a strong power of attraction for developing countries that are struggling to establish a fully operational democratic system. The panellists also raised many issues faced by the Western democratic model, such as the new populist wave hitting the West, the insufficient material support provided by developed democracies to younger states and the need for a wider inclusiveness of women in the democratic process.
 
During the debate, Niccolò A. Figà-Talamanca, Secretary General of NPWJ, stressed how at the core of democracy there is freedom, especially freedom from fear of being targeted as dissident by state powers. He also warned from the danger of populism, which offers simple answers to complicated issues, and eventually reminded how women’s empowerment is important for a healthy democratic process. 
 
 
For more information, contact Nicola Giovannini, email:ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 15.