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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 21, 2004 |
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Freedberg, (202) 728-5527 Cell phone (617) 593-9263 (after July 21) [email protected] |
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WASHINGTON DC—The National Democratic Institute (NDI) announced today the program for its International Leaders Forum (ILF) during the Democratic Convention to be held in Boston from July 25-29. NDI has sponsored the ILF program during every Convention since 1984. A summary of the program is attached—for more details visit NDI's web site at www.ndi.org. The Forum will bring together more than 600 government officials, parliamentarians, political party leaders and ambassadors from more than 120 nations. They will participate in a week-long educational series of panel discussions on the U.S. political process, international affairs and democracy, and observe the Democratic Convention. "I am pleased to welcome our international guests to NDI's sixth consecutive Forum," said NDI Chairman and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. "NDI once again looks forward to sharing with them the best of America's democratic tradition, as they have shared their experiences with us in so many places. We hope that each of our guests will take home a keener understanding of the political process in the United States." "The Forum offers an opportunity to acknowledge the global democracy movement with some of those who have been on the front lines of promoting peaceful political change and strengthening democratic institutions," said Kenneth Wollack, president of NDI. "NDI is proud to have worked alongside so many courageous political and civic leaders during a dramatic era of democratic transformation." Senator Edward Kennedy, Governor Bill Richardson, Congressman Steny Hoyer, Secretary Albright, and Paul Kirk, Chairman of the Kennedy Library Foundation, will welcome the guests at an opening reception on July 25. The theme of the opening panel discussion will be Foreign Policy and the 2004 Campaign, and will feature remarks by Madeleine Albright and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Democrat and former Chairman Joseph Biden. The panel will be moderated by Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe. (Sunday, July 25, 4:00pm) Highlights of the week-long program include a Conversation on Democracy organized with the Club of Madrid, featuring former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, former Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga and former Irish President Mary Robinson. (Monday, July 26, 3:00pm). There will be a panel discussion on The Role of Nominating Conventions and Presidential Debates, led by former chair of the Republican National Committee Frank Fahrenkopf and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, Paul Kirk, who together now head up the Commission on Presidential Debates. The panel will be moderated by Gloria Borger of U.S. News and World Report. (Monday, July 26, 10:30am) Domestic politics will again be the focus of an Analysis of the 2004 Presidential Campaign, moderated by David Gergen, of U.S. News & World Report, with panelists David Brooks of The Weekly Standard, Mark Shields of CNN, Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe and former White House Press Secretary, DeeDee Myers. (Tuesday, July 27, 10:30am) A panel titled International Relations: Democracy; Economics; and Security is organized with foreign policy advisors to Senator John F. Kerry. It will provide participants with insights into how the candidate formulates foreign policy. Moderated by Rand Beers, National Security Advisor to Senator Kerry, panelists include former U.S. Senator Gary Hart, former Secretary of Defense William Perry, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, former National Economic Advisor to President Clinton Laura Tyson, and University of Maryland professor Ernest Wilson. (Wednesday, July 28, 10:00 am) A roundtable will focus on women's political leadership and the Win with Women Global Initiative. Moderated by Madeleine Albright, participants will include Representative Jane Harman, former U.S. Vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, former Belgian Minister of State Annemie Neyts-Utterbroek, former Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Cambodian Member of Parliament Sochua Mu, Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano, former Texas Governor Ann Richards, Member of the Pakistani National Assembly Fauzia Wahab, and Nigerian parliamentarian Saudatu Sani, among others. (Wednesday, July 28, 3:30pm) Each day, ILF participants will receive a daily overview of the Convention proceedings, and in the evenings be hosted at NDI's Hospitality Center, within walking distance of the Fleet Center, to follow and attend Convention proceedings from there. The ILF is funded by private contributions and is part of NDI's ongoing program to provide world leaders with comparative insights into various democratic systems. The ILF is organized in cooperation with the Democratic National Convention Committee and the Boston 2004 Host Committee. NDI is a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. Calling on a global network of volunteer experts, NDI provides practical assistance to civic and political leaders advancing democratic values, practices and institutions. NDI works with democrats in every region of the world to build political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and to promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. #### Please note: The panel discussions are open to DNCC-credentialed media. Schedule and participants may change. |
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