They explored the central role of civic educators in cultivating a democratic culture and pledged to continue their joint efforts to raise the visibility of civic education on the international agenda and leverage their resources through cooperative efforts. The wave of change toward democracy and the open economy that swept the world at the beginning of this decade has slowed, and, in some respects, even turned around. All this makes clear how central knowledge, skills, and democratic values are to building and sustaining democratic societies that are respectful of human rights and cultural diversity. Once again, we see the importance of education which empowers citizens to participate competently and responsibly in their societies. Despite great differences in the more than 50 countries represented among us, we find many similarities in the challenges we face in our civic life.
People involved in civic education have much to learn from one another.
Investments and guarantees made by private enterprise, governments, and international financial institutions will fail where political and legal systems fail, and where corruption and violence flourish. The challenge of civic education is too great for educators alone. They need far greater cooperation from their own peoples, governments, and the international community. We pledge ourselves to create and maintain a worldwide network that will make civic education a higher priority on the international agenda. The committee adopted the following statement of purpose leading to the drafting of principles for organizing, articles of association and a constitution.