The possibility of exercising legitimate opposition to an elected government, either from political structures, the media or civil society, is a necessary condition for any democracy. This system of checks and balances and the respect for fundamental rights, like freedom of expression, association and to peaceably assemble, are under tremendous stress in Venezuela. 

Club de Madrid Member Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland, and Abdurrahim El-Keib, former Prime Minister of Libya and Club de Madrid nominated Member, were the keynote speakers at the World Bank Fragility, Conflict and Violence Forum 2015 opening session on: “The Politics of Peacebuilding: Lessons from Promoting Shared Societies", jointly organized with the Club de Madrid on February 11, 2015 in Washington DC. 

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A Club de Madrid high level mission lead by former Presidents Felipe Calderon (Mexico) and Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) gathered different analysis of the political and institutional situation and conveyed a message highlighting the importance of inclusive dialogue and trust building in the political process with a clear aim: overcome the current institutional crisis featured by a dysfunctional parliament through ensuring the holding of free, transparent and inclusive elections in 2015

In November 2014, two hundred international experts got engaged in a two days Policy Dialogue to find out a diagnosis about the current state of Democracy and craft transformative ideas for the Next Generation Democracy. One of the thirty Club de Madrid Members there present was John Bruton, former Prime Minister of Ireland who reflected about the gathering in his blog www.johnbruton.com

During the meetings of the UN Commision for Social Development, the Club de Madrid and the Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs organized a Side Event with the theme: "The role of a Shared Society in achieving socially sustainable and inclusive development". Danilo Turk, President of Slovenia (2007-2012) and Member of the Club de Madrid, were one of the main panellists. 

The INSPIRED programme’s local partners in Moldova, Tunisia and Kyrgyzstan share their experiences and provide their insights on the INSPIRED approach.Hear them speanking out their minds by watching this video recorded in Madrid during a project's workshop