Minister L.Bold finds great importance in hosting Ministerial Conference

The Board Meeting of member countries of the Community of Democracies (CD) was held in Geneva on February 26.

The Foreign Affairs Minister of Mongolia, L.Bold, opened the high-level Board Meeting where he stressed that Mongolia is finding great importance in hosting the CD Ministerial Conference and expressed his enthusiasm that invited countries were at the conference, and especially thanked the Board Member countries for sending their foreign ministers.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshiko Abe attended the opening meeting and gave a statement that Japan would actively participate in the operations of CD and support the initiation of a working group that fosters democracy in countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, which are now in the throes of the Democratic Movement.

During this Board Meeting, an important decision was made to invite more countries to attend the Ministerial Conference, which will be hosted in Ulaanbaatar. Later on, the delegations of Mongolia gave information on their preparations for this conference; such as the draft conference program, the draft of the Ulaanbaatar Independence project, and the participation status of invited countries. Furthermore, the working groups of the CD mentioned their relevant duties and discussed the regulation on choosing the chair country of the CD. The Board members also promoted the idea of forming a working group of to advance the Democratic Movement in South Sudan, with the Permanent Representative of South Sudan to Geneva, Mr. R. Riek, informing them that South Sudan is glad with this decision. The meeting was attended by the senior officials of the Board Member countries, CD Secretary-General Maria Leissner, and representatives of civil society.

Mongolia has been chairing the CD since July 2011, for almost two years; and is working to host its 7th Ministerial Conference from April 27 to 29. The CD is an intergovernmental organization established in 2000. The Community works to strengthen democracy worldwide by providing support to emerging democracies and civil society. It now embraces almost 140 countries, including a governmental component made up of government representatives and a non-governmental component made up of civil society organizations.

The Foreign Affairs Ministries of around 150 countries and around twenty international organizations have been invited to the upcoming CD Ministerial Conference in Ulaanbaatar. The President of Mongolia himself has invited over ten heads of foreign states and governments, and has since invited the same number of world-famous and prominent personalities. The actual Ministerial Conference will be held on April 29, and the previous two days, April 27 and 28, will be dedicated to the Parliamentary Summit of CD, Women Summit, Youth Summit, and the Conference of Civil Society.

Currently, some heads of states have already responded to the invitation to attend this Ulaanbaatar conference. Foreign ministries of ten countries and four international organizations have also agreed to take part in the Ministerial Conference. It is estimated that around a thousand foreign delegations will come to Ulaanbaatar to witness this event. The National Committee to make arrangements to the CD Ministerial Conference is headed by the Prime Minister of Mongolia, N.Altankhuyag.

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