The U.S. Department of State on Dec. 10 issued a press release that highlighted initiatives for policy and foreign assistance to uphold democracy.
The announcement comes after President Joe Biden on Dec. 9 held the first of its kind Summit for Democracy, where leaders around the world discussed ongoing challenges and opportunities on a global scale.
To advance these priorities, State Department officials plan to promote programs and initiatives, working with Congress and subject to the availability of appropriations, according to the release.
“Through the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, the U.S. Department of State will launch a landmark set of policy and foreign assistance initiatives that build upon the U.S. Government’s significant, ongoing work to bolster democracy and defend human rights globally," government officials said in a press release.
As part of plan to support free and independent journalism, the State Department will provide up to $3.5 million to establish a Journalism Protection Plan, per the release, “which will provide at-risk journalists with digital and physical security training, psychosocial care, legal aid and other forms of assistance. And the U.S. Government will increase its engagement with the Media Freedom Coalition, an intergovernmental partnership working to advocate for media freedom and the safety of journalists worldwide.”
The release reports that as part of effort to fight corruption, the State Department and others will build on its support for the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC) by providing up to $6 million to enhance the GACC’s work to connect media and civil society organizations with one another, expose ill-gotten gains and support legal or policy changes in support of anti-corruption objectives.
“The State Department, working with the Departments of Treasury and Justice, will provide up to $15.1 million to launch the Democracies Against Safe Havens Initiative, which will work to build the capacity of partner governments to deny corrupt actors the ability to hide ill-gotten gains through anti-money laundering measures, to encourage like-minded partners to adopt anti-corruption sanctions and visa restriction regimes and to detect and disrupt complex corruption schemes,” government officials said in the release.
The release additionally states that bolstering democratic reformers, advancing technology and rapid response programs will also be part of the initiative.
