The Summit for Democracy
Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has made clear that renewing democracy in the United States and around the world is essential to meeting the unprecedented challenges of our time.
As President Biden stated on the International Day of Democracy, “No democracy is perfect, and no democracy is ever final. Every gain made, every barrier broken, is the result of determined, unceasing work.”
On December 9-10, 2021, President Biden hosted the first of two Summits for Democracy, bringing together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, gave remarks (video below) at the Summit on Bolstering Democratic Resilience.
Former U.S. Embassy Youth Councilor and Pacific youth advocate Josiah Tualamali’I (biography below), joined a select few from around the globe at the Summit for Democracy Youth Town Hall, hosted by Linda Thomas-Greenfield – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. You can read more about this Town Hall (and watch a recording) on State Department’s DipNote.
For more information, the Summit schedule, host-sponsored events, participant list, remarks and releases, visit state.gov/summit-for-democracy.
Josiah Tualamali’I, New Zealand (biography)
Josiah is New Zealand-born and of Samoan and palagi descent. He is a serial submission writer, company director, and elevates people’s voices in decision making around their mental health and addictions. Josiah’s leadership journey began at 14 when he started developing the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Trust to empower Pacific youth voice in democracy with his peers. In 2018, he was the youngest of six panel members appointed by the New Zealand Government to the Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction and is a co-author of their report “He Ara Oranga.” Since 2019, Josiah has been one of the community conveners who pulled together a petition of 30,000 people which successfully asked the New Zealand Police to not routinely carry guns. Most recently, he took a petition to the New Zealand Parliament calling for an apology for the historic Dawn Raids and special Parliamentary debate which has enabled conversations of healing, and a rebalancing of history.