UNDEF 'has proven itself to be effective, respected and legitimate in parts of the world where it's difficult for others to operate'

Thomas Carothers, one of the world's leading scholars on democracy support,  gave a lecture at the United Nations on the theme of "Democracy’s Uncertain State".  

Vice-President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Professor Carothers addressed the challenges in every region while giving the inaugural  Margaret Vogt Memorial Lecture on 5 May 2016, in commemoration of the late Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the Central African Republic.   

He highlighted UNDEF's role in addressing these challenges: "The United Nations role in international democracy support is much wider, much broader and much more important than many observers of this community realize... We have the United Nations Democracy Fund, which when it was started a little more than 10 years ago, many people had questions about, but has proven itself to be effective, respected and legitimate in parts of the world where it's very difficult for others to operate."   

The segment on UNDEF is here. Watch the full lecture here.