MS for democracy

MS’ new focus is democracy and some wonder if MS by the word democracy has adopted the rhetoric used by the US and others. The answer is that MS stands for enhancement of democracy for people who aspire for a decent life and global justice.

When the Danish government announced that it would cut back DANIDA funding to MS Denmark in October 2006, we were left with one alternative: to trim the organisation and sharpen the organisational profile. To cut back on staff from app. 60 in 2005 to 32 in 2006 was painful and very regrettable. The demand of own funding on 5% in 2006 and 10% in 2007 is still remaining a severe challenge for MS.

However, the restructuring of the secretariat, and the making of a new organisation that to larger extent is based on communicative campaigns, has released energy and positive development among the staff that still does their good job at MS Denmark.

MS sharper profile was agreed to be democracy during the annual meeting in Denmark 28th January. And by putting the focus on democracy MS has chosen a profile which is closely connected to the root s of our organisation. MS has from the early days of our work focused on building up societies based on justice and active participation of citizens.
By choosing democracy MS now has a focus which is very well in line with the recently adopted policy paper named ‘Partnership against Poverty’. In this paper we stress the need for people to take active part in the local and global development.

Democracy what does it mean?
Some wonder if MS by the word democracy has adopted the rhetoric used by the US and others. The opposite is rather the case. MS finds active civil participation as a fundamental tool for development of a society and do not believe that democracy can be imposed from above. Thereby strengthening of democracy needs to happen from belowfor a lively and participatory population. We understand the word democracy as a society ruled by the people. Demos means people in old Greek.

Building up a democracy is a lot more than building up a system where citizens every four years votes for a new government. A democracy includes among others; freedom of speech, freedom to unite and freedom of mind. It is not enough for MS to ensure people the right to vote. We want to fight for the right of the people to feel part of a democracy in every respect of their daily lives. Therefore MS stands for enhancement of democracyfor people struggling for a decent life and global justice.

Nils Brøgger Jakobsen is vice chairman of MS, Danish Association for International Cooperation