Note to Correspondents

‘The Doers of Democracy’ Photo Exhibition Opens at United Nations 9 May

 

At this critical time for democratization efforts in several parts of the world, the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) will open an exhibition of photographs illustrating its work on Monday, 9 May, at 6 p.m. in the Main Gallery of the United Nations Visitors’ Lobby.  The images in the exhibition illustrate selected democracy projects in the field, funded by UNDEF and implemented by civil society organizations in Africa, the Arab region, Asia, Latin America and Europe.  The photographs come from 30 countries and are taken by the UNDEF project grantees themselves.  Accompanying the images are brief stories describing the grantees’ work to address challenges in the democratic development of their countries.

One of the youngest entities in the United Nations system, UNDEF is the only United Nations body that has the word “democracy” in its name.  Its main purpose is to support democracy by empowering civil society, and thus it plays a new and unique role in complementing the United Nations traditional work with Governments.  In this way, UNDEF targets the demand side of democracy, rather than the supply side.

Since then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan created UNDEF in 2005, it has funded more than 300 projects in some 150 countries.  Most of them are implemented by local civil society groups, or non-governmental organizations.  UNDEF projects exist in challenging environments — from post-conflict countries to societies in transition and developing democracies.

The exhibition will be opened by Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who will deliver a message from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and by the Chair of the UNDEF Advisory Board, Michael Doyle, Professor of International Affairs, Law and Political Science at Columbia University and former Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning in the Office of the Secretary-General.  The exhibition is organized by the United Nations Democracy Fund in collaboration with Deloitte, which provides pro bono observation of UNDEF projects around the world.

For more information on the exhibition, please contact Annika Savill, Deputy Executive Head, United Nations Democracy Fund, at tel.: +1 212 963 6475, e‑mail: savill@un.org.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, please contact Jan Arnesen at tel.: +1 212 963 8531, e-mail: arnesen@un.org, or Liza Wichmann at tel.: +1 212 963 0089, e-mail: wichmann@un.org; or visit http://visit.un.org.

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For information media • not an official record