Today, Administrator Samantha Power and the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States Jacques Pitteloud convened a roundtable with a dozen like-minded development partners to discuss strategies to surge support for countries experiencing democratic openings.
Participants included representatives from Canada, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. They were joined by leaders from Guatemala, Moldova, and Tanzania, who highlighted the integral role partners can play in advancing their countries' reform agendas to root out corruption, strengthen democratic governance, equitably build prosperity for their people, and meaningfully communicate with their citizens.
Development partners in the room discussed opportunities to collectively help reformers seize these windows of democratic opportunity to deliver on citizen priorities and sustain democratic transitions through efforts such as USAID's Democracy Delivers Initiative and similar approaches and initiatives in like-minded countries. Ambassador Pitteloud shared Switzerland's increased strategic focus on democratic openings as part of a holistic approach to inclusive and sustainable development. They emphasized the critical importance of facilitating partnerships and leveraging multi-stakeholder coalitions - including bilateral and multilateral donors, philanthropy, civil society, and the private sector - to deliver on citizen priorities and support democratic bright spots around the world.
Launched by Administrator Power and Secretary Blinken in 2022, USAID's Democracy Delivers Initiative works to surge cross-sectoral support, resources, and attention to countries experiencing promising democratic openings in order to help reformers deliver on citizen priorities and strengthen democratic governance. Building on the momentum from the Democracy Delivers Commitment to Action launched at the UN General Assembly last year and engagements like this one, USAID is committed to galvanizing support, fostering new partnerships, and advancing new commitments and resources to support these democratic openings.
