Gwangju Democracy Forum(GDF) 2023

The Gwangju Democracy Forum(GDF) 2023 will take place for six days from May 14 to 19 2023 in the May 18 Week in a hybrid manner.

This year GDF 2023 theme is “Solidarity for Democracy and Human Rights Defenders”, and around 10 session are to be organized under the 3 thematic cluster 1) State Violence and Restoration of Victim’s Rights – How will It Be Done?, 2) UN SDG 16+- Peace, Justice, and Democracy, 3) Challenges and Threats Toward Human Rights Defenders to discuss what is needed in leading to a new order to overcome the chaos and to find ways to restore democracy.

We will include the following in the discussions; 1) country/region state of democracy, 2) countermeasures against humanitarian crises caused by war and the climate crisis, 3) civic participation and the rebuilding of democracy for people. The outcome of the GDF 2023 will be used as input to develop the 2030 Gwangju Agenda for Democracy (GAD) which will be the guide for action to prepare for the 50th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising in 2030

And youth component will be implemented for youth who are active in the field of democracy, human rights, and peace in South Korea. The Youth-GDF (Y-GDF) will be held from May 14 to 15 prior to the GDF 2023 event.

All GDF participants will attend the 43rd Anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising National ceremony and the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights(GPHR) Awards ceremony on May 18.

We will open the GDF 2023 website in May. For more information, please refer to the GDF website.

GDF 2023 Programme

	May 14 (Sun.)	May 15 (Mon.)	May 16 (Tues.)	May 17 (Wed.)		May 18 (Thur.)	May 19 (Fri.)
				Global HRD Day
9:00~10:45	Y-GDF (May 14~15) /NLG Meeting (7PM, May 15)		GDF Opening& Keynote Speech Ⅰ (10 am~12 pm)	Keynote Speech Ⅱ (25thAnniversary of Universal Human Rights Defender Declaration)		43rd Anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising National Ceremony	Evaluation and Vision of Foundation’s International Solidarity Projects
10:45~11:00				Coffee Break
11:00~12:45				Session 3 Challenges and Threats Toward Human Rights Defenders
12:45~14:00			Lunch (12 pm)	Lunch
14:00~15:45			Session 1 State Violence and Restoration of Victim’s Rights	SP Session Role of Journalists to Enhance Democracy and Human Rights	GRAS-NET	Cultural Exploration	(Optional) Strategy Meeting & Self Organization Meeting by Partner Organization
15:45~16:00			Coffee Break
16:00~17:45			Session 2 UN SDG 16+ and Democracy	Closing Session
				May 18 Eve March		Dinner
17:45~			Welcome Banquet	May 18 Anniversary Eve Festival		GPHR**Awards Ceremony (7 pm)