International Centre for Democratic Transition

International Centre for Democratic Transition
The International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) is a non-profit organization founded in 2005 based in Budapest, Hungary which collects the experiences of recent democratic transitions and shares them with those who are determined to follow that same path.
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 László Kovács 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 United States, 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, President of Hungary László Sólyom announced at the World Summit of the United Nations that "an International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) has been set up in Budapest."
Operational 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
Pursued 23 distinct projects to promote democratic transition and share best practices and lessons learned;
Established a strong presence in Moldova with a series of high-profile projects;
Celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1989 democratic changes in a dignified way, with a number of conferences and high-level events;
Reached out to over a thousand members of civil society, government officials, and media representatives;
Earned the trust of new donors including the Governments of Estonia, Switzerland, and Luxembourg;
Established a long-term partnership with the Helen Bader Foundation;
Achieved broad international recognition with the publication of A European Alternative for Belarus: Report of the Belarus Task Force;
Published an Open Letter to the Obama Administration, which attracted international attention and debate;
Enlisted Paula J. Dobriansky, April H. Foley, Nabila Hamza, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Aleksandr Kwasniewski, Dr. Péter Medgyessy, George E. Pataki, George Soros, and Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga as new international board members.
Program areas
Interregional CooperationPromoting interregional cooperation between governments and civil societies of neighboring countries to enable democratic transition and to ensure regional stability.
Toolbox for DemocracyProviding 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 DemocracyStrengthening the involvement of marginalized groups such as minorities, women and other unprotected social groups in both the transition process and the functioning of democracy.
Research and AnalysisUnderstanding and explaining the complex process of democratic transitions in order to forecast future trends and give recommendations for projects in the centre's three program areas.
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
Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Vice-President of the European Parliament, former Minister of Defense, Poland
Members
Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, chair, The Albright Group, USA
Daniel Bader, President/CEO, Helen Bader Foundation, USA
Donald M. Blinken, former United States Ambassador to Hungary, USA
Nancy Brinker, former White House Chief of Protocol, Former Ambassador to Hungary, USA
Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister, Canada
Gustavo A. Cisneros, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cisneros Group of Companies, USA
Prof. Emil Constantinescu, former President of Romania 1996-2000
Joel H. Cowan, President of Habersham & Cowan. Inc, USA
Jayantha Dhanapala, former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Honorary President of the International Peace Bureau, Sri Lanka
Paula J. Dobriansky, former Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, USA
April H. Foley, former Ambassador to Hungary, USA
György Habsburg, Archduke Georg of Austria, Ambassador, Hungary
Nabila Hamza; President of the Foundation for the Future, Jordan
Andrey Illarionov, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, USA
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, former president, Sri Lanka
President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former president, Poland
President Ricardo Lagos, Former President of the Republic of Chile, Chile
Ho-Jin Lee, former Ambassador to Hungary, South Korea
Sonja Licht, Chair of the ICDT's executive committee, President and Founder of Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, Serbia
Markus Meckel, last Minister of Foreign Affairs of the GDR, Deputy Foreign Policy Speaker of the SPD, Germany
Anatoli Mikhailov, President of EHU-International, Lithuania
Mark Palmer, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Hungary, USA
Governor George E. Pataki, Former Governor of New York; Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Climate Change Issues, USA
Thomas S. Rooney, CEO and Director, Energy Recovery Inc., USA
Sima Samar, Chairperson, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghanistan
Narcís Serra, former Vice-President of the Spanish Government, President of CIDOB Foundation, Spain
Prince Hassan bin Al Talal, President, Club of Rome, Jordan
Borys Tarasyuk, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine
Maximilian Teleki, President, Hungarian-American Coalition, USA
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Former President, Latvia
Iván Vitányi, Member of Parliament, Hungary
George Herbert Walker III, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Hungary, USA
Sundeep Waslekar, President, Strategic Foresight Group, India
† John C. Whitehead, Former Deputy Secretary of State, USA
Honorary Members
Iván Bába, Administrative State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
Michel Barnier, Former Minister of Agriculture, France, Member of the Barroso Commission, Internal Market and Services
Judge Alexander Boraine, former Member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa
Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President, Estonia
János Martonyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hungary
George Soros, Chairperson of Soros Fund Management, LLC and Founder of The Open Society Institute, USA
† Bronislaw Geremek, MEP, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Solidarity Member, Poland
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
Sonja Licht, President and Founder of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence
Members
Daniel Bader, President/CEO, Helen Bader Foundation, USA
April H. Foley, former US Ambassador to Hungary
Ferenc Somogyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, former Ambassador to the United States
Botond Zákonyi, Director of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs
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.
Board of Trustees
Victor Rico, Secretary for Political Affairs, Organization of American States (OAS)
Mira Hoxha, Ambassador to Hungary, Albania
John Griffin, Ambassador to Hungary, Australia
Michael Zimmermann, Ambassador to Hungary, Austria
Pierre Labouverie, Ambassador to Hungary, Belgium
Nicola Ðukić, Ambassador to Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Evgenia Koldanova, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria
Tamara Lynne Guttman, Ambassador to Hungary, Canada
Ivan Bandić, Ambassador to Hungary, Croatia
Gabriela Dlouhá, Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Human Rights & Transition Policy Department, Czech Republic
Priit Pallum, Ambassador to Hungary, Estonia
Hannu Kyröläinen, Director General, Department for Global Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland
Zviad Chumburidze, Ambassador to Hungary, Georgia
Spyridon Georgiles, Ambassador to Hungary, Greece
Gauri Shankar Gupta, Ambassador to Hungary, India
Gian B. Campagnola, Ambassador to Hungary, Italy
Tetsuo Ito, Ambassador to Hungary, Japan
Makram Mustafa Queisi, Ambassador accredited to Hungary, Jordan
Dorothy Angote, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Kenya
Chung-Ha Suh, Ambassador to Hungary, Republic of Korea
Shkëndije Sherifi, Ambassador to Hungary, Kosovo
Veronika Erte, Ambassador to Hungary, Latvia
Renatas Juška, Ambassador to Hungary, Lithuania
Marc Courte, Ambassador to Hungary, Luxembourg
Alexandru Codreanu, Ambassador to Hungary, Moldova
Ochir Enkhtsetseg, Ambassador to the United Nations, Mongolia
Vesko Garčević, Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Montenegro
Robert Milders, Ambassador to Hungary, the Netherlands
Siri Ellen Sletner, Ambassador to Hungary, Norway
Roman Kowalski, Ambassador to Hungary, Poland
António Augusto Jorge Mendes, Ambassador to Hungary, Portugal
Bogdan Mazuru, State Secretary for European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romania
Damjan Krnjevic-Miskovic, Advisor of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serbia
Peter Weiss, Ambassador to Hungary, Slovakia
Darja Bavdaž Kuret, Ambassador to Hungary, Slovenia
Enrique Pastor de Gana, Ambassador to Hungary, Spain
Karin Ulrika Olofsdotter, Ambassador to Hungary, Sweden
Martin Michelet, Head of the Human Rights Policy Section of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
Rwekaza Sympho Mukandala, Executive Chairperson of the Research on Democracy and Education, Tanzania
Hasan Kemal Gür, Ambassador to Hungary, Turkey
Yurii Mushka, Ambassador to Hungary, Ukraine
Gregory Dorey, Ambassador to Hungary, United Kingdom
Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, United Nations
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, Ambassador to Hungary, United States of America
Advisors
Cesar D. Beltran, Senior Advisor
Armando Marques Guedes, Senior Advisor
André Erdős, Senior Advisor
Attila Komlós, Senior Advisor
Sándor Köles, Senior Advisor
Staff
István Gyarmati, President of the Center for Democracy Public Foundation
Gáspár Várkonyi, Managing Director of the Center for Democracy Public Foundation
László Várkonyi, President of the International Centre for Democratic Transition
References
Democratization
Organizations established in 2005
Think tanks based in Hungary