May 9, 2002	Thursday	Safar 25, 1423

WASHINGTON, May 8: Leading figures from civil society, business, politics and academia from every continent issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling on citizens to urge governments to deepen democracy.

The statement, in referring to the events of September 11 and its aftermath, makes an appeal for “building open societies that practice tolerance, respect for human rights, the rule of law and governmental accountability and transparency” as essential to any effective strategy to address the root causes of extremism.

Among those endorsing the joint statement are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta, Kuwaiti women’s rights champion Samira Omar, philanthropist George Soros, Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir, South African speaker of parliament Frene Ginwala, former Polish foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek, and former president of Peru Valentin Paniagua.

The statement, issued in five languages, is the outcome of efforts by a new non-governmental group, the Democracy Coalition Project, which says it seeks to encourage national coalitions of civil society groups engaged in promoting reforms needed to improve democracy within their own societies and internationally, and to facilitate their cooperation.

The statement bases its campaign for greater activism on a new alliance among democratic governments called the “Community of Democracies,”, which met for the first time in June 2000 in Warsaw, Poland.