At the Press Conference held in the New York Foreign Press Center, President Carl Gershman informed the press about the activity of the National Endowment for Democracy.
The NED is a U.S. initiative to strengthen democratic institutions throughout the world through private, non-governmental efforts.
The Endowment’s objective of strengthening democratic groups and institutions in other countries not only reflects the hopes and ideals of the American people, but also is rooted in universally recognized principles of international law.
Various United Nations agreements (including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), as well as the Helsinki Final Act, commit governments around the world to honoring the fundamental human rights that are guaranteed to citizens of the United States and other free societies.
President Carl Gershman stated to our correspondents question, The Endowments philosophy reflects in its founding mission statement. Democracy involves the right of the people freely to determine their own destiny. The exercise of this right requires a system that guarantees freedom of expression, belief and association, free and competitive elections, respect for the inalienable rights of individuals and minorities, free communications media, and the rule of law.
President Carl Gershman in his answer, stressed, that a democratic system may take a variety of forms suited to local needs. To our correspondents question of what factors help the spread of democracy in Middle East, he answered: First of all the free election and the independent media. He added: very important factors are, for instance, the free election campaign, the right of the womens elections rights, the transparency, the free market economy, and to be observant of the human rights and the society justice. The democracy is a universal value and it is a learning process. For instance in Iraq, it is very difficult to build up the democracy, but several Iraqi people started it.
Tamas Barat (BPI)
