Comprising a diverse range of people, backgrounds, faiths, ideas, genders, ages and skills, the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe (CDRSEE) is one small group of people, in cooperation with considerable networks of groups of people, whose intent is to support and encourage democratic change in Southeast Europe.  We at the CDRSEE believe that the key to a stable and peaceful region is the foundation of robust democracies and genuine peace; peace that has been constructed through reconciliation, discussion, open participation and agreement, rather than an imposed solution.

We are committed to investigating specific ways of enhancing and encouraging social dialogue and building social cohesion in this part of Europe. The CDRSEE activities raise awareness via publications, workshops, textbook analysis, academic conferences, opinion polls, training sessions, and cultural and artistic programmes. An increased exchange of information between the countries of the region via textbooks, school lessons, media, popular culture, art, and regional youth initiatives is essential to lasting peace.

The CDRSEE is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation advocating the principles of social responsibility and fostering civil society.

An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
~Thomas Paine

The end of this decade brings challenges to the Balkans as big as the once that ushered it in. The global economic crisis has not even delivered its worst bite but the region is feeling the chill. Foreign investments and foreign aid are down, unemployment, uncertainty and instability are on the rise. Yet the support for the societies of the region is as crucial as ever if Southeast Europe is to continue its road towards the EU in a peaceful and democratic manner.

Much of the social capital that has been built up over the last decade and a half is at risk of being lost, if genuine indigenous solutions are not encouraged, fostered and strengthened. Our commitment and perhaps our greatest challenge is to help the peoples of the region to help themselves; drawing on the unique qualities, capabilities and resilience that are intrinsic to the region’s peoples and to bridge the gap between the past and the future; the gap between being a transitional region, to prosperous and peaceful one.