International Day of Democracy 2022
- Category
Polity & Governance
- Published
23rd Sep, 2022
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Context
September 15th is celebrated annually across the world as International Day of Democracy.
About
International Day of Democracy:
- The day is observed globally to mark the importance of democracy and create awareness among people about democratic rights.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights- ‘the right to freedom of expression is a fundamental human right’
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- The ideal of democracy can only be realised as a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere with full participation, cooperation, and support of the international community, civil society, national governing bodies, and individuals.
- History:The day was established after a resolution was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007.
- According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the resolution was geared toward strengthening and consolidating democracy.
- The International Day of Democracy was first celebrated in 2008and since then, numerous parliamentary events have been organised worldwide.
- Theme:The theme for International Day of Democracy 2022 is “the importance of media freedom to democracy, peace, and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
- IPU is global inter-parliamentary institution.
- It was established in 1889 and was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations.
- It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Its initial objective was arbitration of conflicts.
- It played important role in setting up Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
- Over time, its mission has evolved towards promotion of democracy and inter-parliamentary dialogue.
- It has worked for establishment of institutions at inter-governmental level, including UN.
- Initially, IPU was for individual parliamentarians, but has since transformed into international organization of parliaments of sovereign states.
- The national parliaments of 178 countries are its members and 14 regional parliamentary assemblies are its associate members.
- The IPU has permanent observer status at UNGA.
- Slogan of IPU is “For democracy. For everyone.”
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