Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and a litany of leading social activists to be in attendance

DHARAMSHALA: Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the democratically elected political leader of the Tibetan people, will speak at an international conference on ‘Strengthening Democracy in Asia: Inclusion, Participation, and Rights’ at the India International Centre, New Delhi, on Monday, 23 March.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, will be the distinguished guests at the inaugural session of the conference. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will honor the legacy of his close friend and former Indian politician Mr. George Fernandes at the session.

Besides Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, other speakers at the two-day conference include eminent personalities like Union Railway Minister Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Mr. Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Ms. Shawna Bader-Blau, Executive Director of the Solidarity Center, Mr. Seong Hoon Lee, Executive Director of the Korea Human Rights Foundation, Mr. Fred Redmond, Vice-President, USW International (Human Affairs), and Dr. George Mathew, Founder Director, Institute of Social Sciences.

The conference seeks to strengthen relationships and networks among civil society organisations, media practitioners, politicians, and other champions of democracy. It will also highlight challenges faced by activists, best practices in addressing them, and ideas for promoting democratic change within a society.

The conference is jointly organised by The Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), a leading think tank and a resource center on democracy, human rights and women empowerment; the Asia Democracy Network (ADN), a civil society led multi-stakeholders’ platform among democracy advocates and human rights defenders and; the World Movement for Democracy, a network of activists, practitioners, scholars, policy makers, and funders who work to advance democracy.