Democracy Video Challenge Welcomes Hernando de Soto As Jury Co-Chair

December 9, 2008 | Washington, D.C.

The Democracy Video Challenge, an online contest that promotes global dialogue on democracy, is pleased to announce that acclaimed economist Hernando de Soto has joined the Challenge as co-chair of the independent jury.

The jury will select 21 video finalists representing all regions of the world and the online voting public will then choose a winner from each region in the spring of 2009. The six Challenge winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC, New York,
and Hollywood; participate in gala screenings of their videos and; meet leaders in the U.S. entertainment industry, film schools, government and nongovernmental organizations.

The deadline for video submissions is January 31, 2009. Program details and submission guidelines can be found at www.youtube.com/democracychallenge. "I look forward to seeing what creative voices from around the world can bring to this important discussion about the progress of democracy in the 21st century," Mr. De Soto said. Throughout his career, de Soto has promoted economic opportunity as a necessary foundation for stable, sound democracy. “I can think of no one better than Hernando de Soto to co-chair the Democracy Video Challenge jury. De Soto’s vision of combating poverty, terrorism and hopelessness by expanding property rights is among the more empowering ideas of our generation," said Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs.

De Soto’s work has earned him global recognition from Time, Forbes, Foreign Policy, Prospect, and Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit as one of the most influential thinkers of our time. After studying economics and international law in Switzerland and pursuing a
successful business career in Europe during the 1960s and 70s, de Soto returned to his native Peru in 1979 and formed the Instituto Libertad y Democracia (ILD), now considered by The Economist to be one of the two most important think tanks in the world. De Soto’s
1986 book, The Other Path, presented seminal notions about the importance of regularizing property rights for the poor as a means of promoting economic growth and political stability. Enhancing legal rights and economic opportunity for the poor is central to de Soto’s latest initiative, the United Nations Commission on Legal Empowerment for the Poor.

Additional Background
The Democracy Video Challenge, launched online and at the United Nations on International Democracy Day (September 15, 2008), invites citizens around the world to engage in an online global dialogue on the nature of democracy by submitting three-minute videos that complete the phrase “Democracy is….” Challenge partners include the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the International Youth Foundation, the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, NBC Universal, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, TakingITGlobal, the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, and the U.S. Department of State. YouTube is providing the video platform (www.youtube.com/democracychallenge) and William Morris Talent Agency is providing part of the prize package.