VOCES – Civil society voices for a more sustainable democracy: dialogue between Europe and Latin America– is a project of the Baltasar Garzón International Foundation (FIBGAR) co-funded by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs and aimed at creating a space for the exchange of knowledge and perspectives between European and Latin American civil society actors on issues of sustainable democracy.
According to Adam Przeworski and Guillermo O’Donnell, the term “sustainable democracy” was intended to underscore the imperative need of many states in the world to extend their social action for the purposes of legitimacy and governance. Therefore, a democracy will be sustainable only if it has a good, more efficient and transparent institutional framework.
In order to meet these objectives and understand the possibilities of implementing the sustainability and rights agenda, it is necessary to count on civil society organizations. The participation of organized civil society represents a key factor of our democracy as recalled by the resolutions of the European Economic and Social Committee on the participation of organized civil society in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans 2022 and United for Democracy 2023.
In addition, Spain will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the fifth time in the second half of 2023 and has set out to to strengthen the role of civil societyThe Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be held for the fifth time in the second half of 2023, and Spain intends to strengthen the role of civil society by involving it in various high-level forums and working meetings to discuss the European strategic agenda. Likewise, Spain, holding this presidency, intends to serve as a boost to Spanish foreign policy and represents a great opportunity to build a bridge with Latin America.
Thus, following the objectives of promoting democratic progress and the protection of Human Rights, FIBGAR proposes to accompany this process by promoting a space for debate on sustainable democracy.
In this way, VOCES aims to amplify the voices of European and Latin American organizations dedicated to the promotion of democracy, and to amplify its role as a link between political society and civil society.
To this end, a call for papers(Call for Papers CFP) will be organized and carried out based mainly on four thematic areas: Justice and the Rule of Law; Human Rights and Environmental Protection; Freedom of Expression and Information; and Democratic Memory and Positive Peace. Selected contributions will be reviewed and subsequently published. And the organization of virtual events in which contributions will be presented and will be open to representatives of civil society, citizens, civil servants, academia, etc. from Europe and Latin America.