On 17th May, the mission of the renewal process began. The first country to take part in the visit of the permanent secretariat and the Civil Society Pillar chair was the United Kingdom.  During this visit, the CSP Chair and Permanent Secretari

at among  civil society, government officials and other stakeholders participated in dialogue spaces to learn more about democracy and the reality of each of the five countries that are part of the Renewal Process. For two days, the Permanent Secretariat team Thomas Garret and Patricia Galdámez, the CSP Chair, Enrique de Obarrio and Bond member, Rosemary Forrest,  held meetings with government officials and  civil society representatives.

In the margins of this mission, on 18th May, the CSP Focal Point in the United Kingdom, Bond, hosted a policy roundtable meeting where civil society organizations flagged key issues impacting democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights. These dialogues gave the Community of Democracies Permanent Secretariat and CSP Chair the opportunity to gather the information that will feed the report on this country. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Bond for creating and leading this space.

The PS and chair will visit Norway, Estonia, Guatemala and Argentina in the coming months. They will meet with our civil society focal points Human Rights House Foundation, Open Estonia Foundation, Cultura Democrática, Acción Ciudadana, government officials, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to continue this Renewal Process.