Jofiliti
Veikoso and Joseph Veramu reporting from Seoul, South Korea.
Some reps of Transparency International Chapters from the Asia and Pacific Region at the Summit For Democracy
The Second Summit for
Democracy held in Seoul, South Korea on March 30 started off in dramatic
fashion as President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived at the Opening Ceremony surrounded
by bodyguards and a soldier with a machine gun warily eyeing the landscape from
the open roof of a SUV.
The very tight security
was a stark reminder of the security challenges facing the world. The White
House press release on the 2nd Summit noted that, “We are living
through an era defined by challenges to accountable and transparent governance.
From wars of aggression to changes in climate, societal mistrust and
technological transformation, it could not be clearer that all around the
world, democracy needs champions at all levels.” Foreign Minister Park Jin
reiterated in his opening remarks the importance of democracy as a system of
good governance that can be effectively used to curb corruption.
President Yoon Suk Yeol had
earlier announced that South Korea would set aside US$100 million for sustainable
development, democracy and anti-corruption work in the Indo-Pacific region.
Hopefully these funds, if well managed and utilised, will go a long way in
strengthening democracy and anti-corruption advocacy.
High marks should go to
the organisers for empowering small Pacific nations like Tuvalu, Palau, and the
Marshall islands to speak honestly about the challenges of democracy,
corruption, climate change and their strategies for managing and mitigating these
issues.
There was a good balance
of government and civil society representatives. The Youth Event had young
speakers from Transparency International Chapters in Bangladesh, Cambodia.
South Korea and Fiji. Youths from Algeria, Ecuador, Indonesia, the Philippines
and Turkey, to name a few, were also present.
There was a dynamic
presence of Transparency International Chapter representatives both in the audience
and as featured presenters. A day before the Summit, Transparency International
had organised the Asia-Pacific event. There were presentations on how Chapters
were tackling dirty money issues and strengthening political and business
integrity. There were inspiring narratives on how Chapters were dealing proactively
with civic spaces, youth and digitalisation.
One of the challenges of
international events like the Summit for Democracy is that Government reps sometimes
disappear after the Opening Ceremony making it difficult to have open dialogue with
civil society reps on strengthening democracy and anti-corruption. The few who were
present invariably ‘rested their eyes’ or were glued to their mobile devices.
Surprisingly, there was
not much discourse on democracy as a system of governance that is in decline in
many developing nations, and what can be done to improve good governance. The Corruptions Perceptions Index clearly shows
the correlation between the low scores of governments and their poor state of
democracy.
In the next Summit, the
Youth Event should not be relegated as a Side Event. There should be discourses
on how the massive demography of global young people can be mobilised to nurture
democracy.
There was also a perception
that a number of featured speakers were the same old faces who fly from conference
to conference holding court on the dire state of the world’s systems. They were
big on rhetoric and offered few pragmatic solutions.
The next Summit should be conceptualized in an action-oriented way. Civil society should also receive
better treatment. While the Korean hosts were super-efficient and friendly,
there was a palpable feeling that some of them perceived civil society groups
as a necessary evil that should be handled delicately at arm’s length. Many
Asian and Pacific CSO delegates could not attend the Opening Ceremony because
the Q-Code was suddenly not functioning. The irony was not lost on them that
this was a democracy summit with glitches.
Despite some of the organisational
challenges, the Second Summit for Democracy was successful in highlighting the
interlinked issues of democracy and anti-corruption and the proactive
strategies that Indo-Pacific Governments had committed to utilising to deal effectively
with them.
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