THE MAY 18
MEMORIAL FOUNDATION

Concept Note

 1. The Gwangju Democracy Forum (GDF) is an annual international meeting of the May 18 Foundation to bring

   together democracy advocates, activists, researchers and policy-makers to discuss and reflect on the state and

   challenges of democracy at the local, national, and global levels as a way to commemorate and practice globally

   the spirit of the 1980 May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. 

2. The GDF is the new name to replace the Gwangju Asia Forum which started in 1999 in order to regenerate the

   energy and reshape the vision in the context of the emerging challenges to democracy in Asia and the world as

   recently illustrated in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Myanmar as well as in the United States and some European

   countries. 

3. The 2021 GDF is organized by the May 18 Foundation in partnership with international and domestic civil

  society organizations and public institutions in South Korea with financial support from the Metropolitan City of

  Gwangju. An international working group composed of several key partner organizations is to be formed prior to

  the GDF in order to develop common agendas and action plans.

4. The GDF will take place for 5 days from 17 to 21 May (Monday to Friday) 2021 during the Gwangju Democracy

   Week in a hybrid and virtual manner. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all overseas participants will be

   invited to join the GDF virtually while some participants in South Korea will be invited to attend the sessions

   physically in Gwangju.

5. May 18 will be devoted to the official ceremonies such as the 41st Anniversary of the May 18 Democratic

   Uprising Ceremony at the National Cemetery in Gwangju and the Ceremony of the Gwangju Prize for Human

   Rights at the May 18 Memorial Foundation, and the opening session of the 2021GDF.

6. The specific objectives of the 2021 GDF are i) to assess the emerging threats and challenges to democracy

  movements, ii) to develop common agendas for joint actions based on shared understanding and analysis and iii)

  to contribute to a stronger international networking and coalition-building among democracy advocates and

  organizations,

7. Under the theme “Post-Pandemic Glocal Democracy - Impact, Challenges, and Opportunities”, around 18

   thematic sessions are to be organized under the 5 thematic clusters which are i) Democracy in Asia – Threats

   and Challenges, ii) State Violence and Impunity, iii) Inclusive and Participatory Democracy, iv) New Challenges

   and Opportunities for Glocal Democracy and v) Roles of Democracy Movements and Civil Societies

8. The 2021 GDF is expected to be more global in scope, participatory in process, and action-oriented in outcome

   in order to tackle the new challenges to democracy movements today. Through an open call for applications,  

   more CSOs and groups will be invited to join the GDF, and concrete action agendas with campaign strategies

   will be discussed and adopted for follow-up action plans.

9. All winners of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights will be invited to join the various sessions to share their

   experiences, insights and expertise, and furthermore, they will have an annual summit during the GDF. 

10. About 10 to 15 sessions are expected to be organized by partner organizations that share a common vision

     and mission of the May 18 Foundation, and are willing to share their expertise and resources to join the

     common struggles to promote glocal democracy in accordance with the Spirit and principles of the Gwangju

     Democratic Uprising.

11. Youth challenges program will be organized to motivate more youths to join the GDF in various cultural forms

     such as music, printed art, audio-visual art, and performance.

12. An open call for application will be sent out to all interested CSOs or groups to enable them to make a

     proposal to organize a session during the GDF.  A small amount of funding will be provided for an successfully

     selected organization or a group.

Structure of the Agenda for GDF 2021