2021 Gwangju Democracy Forum - 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 May 18 Gwangju Democracy movement in 1980. 

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 in Asia as well as other continents including the United States and some European countries. 

3. The GDF 2021 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.  A international working group is to formed with several key partner organizations prior to the GDF in order develop common agenda and action plans. 

4. The GDF will take place for 5 days from 17 to 21 May (Monday to Friday) 2021 during 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. The specific objectives of the GDF 2021 are i) to assess the emerging threats and challenges to democracy movement nationally and internationally, ii) to develop common agenda for join action based on shared understanding and analysis and iii) to contribute to a stronger international networking and coalition-building among democracy advocates and organizations, 

6. Under the theme “COVID-19 and Glocal Democracy - Impact, Challenges and Opportunities”, about 18 thematic sessions are to be organized under the 5 thematic clusters which are i) State Violence, Impunity and Transitional Justice, ii) Democratization Movement in Asia iii) Open, Inclusive and Participatory Democracy, iv) New Challenges and Opportunities for Democracy and v) Democrazation Movement and Civil Society

5 Thematic Clusters for GDF 2021

7. The GDF 2021 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 movement today. Through an open call for application, more CSOs and groups will be invited to join the GDF, and concrete action agenda with campaign strategies will be discussed and adopted for follow-up action plans.