International IDEA 30th Anniversary High-Level Session - Welcome remarks from Kevin Casas-Zamora
However, since I’m partial, like all of us, I hope you will allow me to single out a few people, mostly friends, for a second. First, the President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica, my beloved country, a dear friend of many years, Eugenia Zamora. I’m so glad to see Costa Rica represented here. Second, Dr Carmen Lucia, the President of the Electoral Tribunal of Brazil, someone I’ve come to deeply admire, and who happens to be at the helm of an electoral authority that I also admire immensely, not just for their competence but for walking the talk of defending democracy. Thank you for being here, Doctora.
Finally, President Michelle Bachelet, of course. On this, I’m just going to say that I’m a very proud Latin American, and it fills me with joy that a Latin American leader of the stature of President Bachelet, and a woman, is here with us to deliver the keynote speech at the special occasion. Thank you for being here, Presidenta.
We are here to celebrate the 30th anniversary of IDEA. Our Institute was founded during a moment of optimism for democracy, marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the democratic transitions across Latin America and the momentous triumph of freedom in South Africa. If history was not ending, it was at least trending in favour of democracy.
Today, democracy faces its strongest headwinds in our lifetimes. Threats to freedom, human rights, and the rule of law are proliferating around us. In response, IDEA is working with our Member States and partners to identify and monitor these threats, to tease out the best examples from all over the world of how to counter them, and to support those that are on the frontlines of democracy.
On any given day, our teams work with electoral commissions in Ukraine and Sierra Leone to improve their ability to manage risks to electoral integrity; with parliaments in Bhutan and The Gambia to make them more open and inclusive; with brave democratic leaders in Myanmar and Belarus to design the constitutional blueprints that may one day codify their freedoms; with emerging women leaders in Nepal and Paraguay pushing the boundaries of their political systems; with private and public actors supporting responsible digital politics in Ghana and The Netherlands; with judicial authorities and civil society groups enabling effective access to justice for vulnerable groups in Nigeria. This is what supporting democracy means in practice. This is what you make possible by supporting IDEA.
As this list suggests, the thematic scope and geographic breadth of our Institute’s work has grown a lot over the past three decades, in line with the growing demand for our unique combination of comparative knowledge, hands-on expertise, impartial advice, and global reach. But throughout it all, the core premise and promise of IDEA have endured. We remain a pluralist, diverse, non-prescriptive platform for learning and exchange among the world’s democracies. We believe that efforts to support democracy demand more pluralism and less uniformity, more dialogue and less arrogance. That was the bold vision of our founders 30 years ago.
Mutual respect, appreciation of diversity, curiosity and humility remain the tools of choice of this institute. Look around you. The faces here are visible proof that democratic values are not tied to national identities,
religious creeds or ethnic traits, but speak to very profound aspirations in all human beings. Such diversity has been a hallmark of IDEA from the beginning, driven by the understanding that only inclusive exchanges among democracies will generate the ideas, opportunities, and solutions we need to protect and revitalize democracy. This institute should be, above all, a platform to enable plural conversations on democracy and mutual learning between democracies. In the current context, this is not just a worthwhile pursuit, but an indispensable one. As Amartya Sen put it not long ago, when we learn about each other, we build knowledge, and we also build peace. That’s what IDEA is about.
Advancing the cause of democracy against strong headwinds is a project that demands our collective commitment every day. This being the case, we are lucky to have in Sweden, our host country, an extraordinarily committed champion. The fact that IDEA was founded in Stockholm is not an accident. It is a testament to Sweden’s longstanding devotion to democracy, the rule of law, human rights, social inclusion, and multilateralism. Now, when some of the oldest and loudest voices for democracy have gone quiet, or even turned adversarial to democratic norms, Sweden’s consistent defence of those principles is a global inspiration. IDEA could not have a better home. To Sweden’s government and people: my heartfelt gratitude. Madam Minister, this week of celebration is your celebration too.
Let me finish this welcome with a reflection on hope and democracy. These days hope about the world is hard to come by. That’s why I appreciate your presence here so much – because it gives me hope for the future of IDEA
and of democracy. Your presence shows that we all understand that democracy is a precious gift, bequeathed to us through centuries of sacrifice. Your presence shows that we all feel a sense of responsibility for making sure that this inheritance is passed down to the next generation.
The founding Secretary-General of IDEA, the late, great Bengt Säve-Soderbergh, was fond of saying “while there is instant coffee, there is no instant democracy.” He was right. If there is one thing that we have learned in these 30 years, it is that there is nothing easy or inevitable about the triumph of democracy.
The notion that all human beings are endowed with equal dignity and with the same right to participate in collective decisions; the notion that political power ought to be limited if it is to remain legitimate; the idea that the best protection for human dignity is not tribal bonds, but the existence of a body of rights, protected by law, in the face of which we are all equal; all of those are very new ideas that in many respects swim against powerful tides in human nature. Inequality, the exercise of raw power, and allegiance to tribe and to those who are and look exactly like us, are the historical norm. The spread of democracy is an enormous victory against dark forces in our nature. Now all those ancestral forces are rearing their heads again in different places. The preservation of democracy demands a lot from us every day, lest we let the jungle grow back.
This is, my friends, the twilight struggle we have in our hands. We need to build the global coalitions to prevail –IDEA is one of them—knowing full well that while the values we defend are eternal, our victories are always transitory.
Your presence here is a way of saying that now, more than ever, we must dare to make the case for democracy, with conviction and a sense of urgency. It is a case that has not lost one bit of its power to inspire and give hope and light in this moment of darkness.
It is now my great honour to invite the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Malmer Stenergard, to deliver opening remarks and to introduce our keynote speaker, the former President of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. Minister Malmer Stenergard is a staunch advocate for democracy and human rights, and a friend of International IDEA. Minister, thank you for hosting us here today, and for supporting our work every day.
Madam Minister, welcome to the podium.
