International Day of Democracy 2011

UN International Day of Democracy
UN announced 15th of September as International Day of Democracy and invitedall Member States, non-governmental organizations, organizations and individuals to celebrate the International Day of Democracy in a manner that led to raising public awareness.

Agenda of International Day of Democracy
UN also invited member states to ensure thatparliamentarian and other civil society organizations are given appropriate opportunity to participate in, and contribute to, the commemoration of the International Day of Democracy.

A Positive Sign
As it is positive sign that UN acknowledges the significance of an international day of democracy, it is also important to emphasis that it is not sufficient just to promote democracy - it is equally imperative to discussanalysis and explore the different facets of democracy.

Ownership and Action is the need of Hour
It is also essential that civil society organizations accept responsibility and take appropriate action to inculcate the agenda of the International Day of Democracy. It must ensure that the debate embodies theissues relevant to the various parts of the population, including the minorities and poor people.

Significance is Established
The question may arise what an international day of democracy can accomplish? Well, not much alone. But the essence of the issue lays in the fact that UN member states actually agreed that democracy is worth celebrating and is a serious area of concern. Not too long ago when democracywas considered a contentiousand difficult topic in the UN assembly and to some extentit still is, but it signifies an evolution. It manifests that even if democracies face set backs and we may witness some countries’ politics where democracy is rolled back we will also envision democracy as a norm, as a principle. In short, democracyis gaining ground and mobility

Steps Taken to Commemorate this Occasion
To commemorate the first International Day of Democracy, International IDEAorganized an array of activities that focused on specifying the link between democracy, development and distinctions.
On the occasion of first Democracy Day, the African Union Commission and International IDEA launched a Joint Activity Plan for endorsing democracy in Africa. The Plan is focused onthe African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance that was adopted by the African Union in 2007. It was developed with a mission- while peace and security are of major importance to the region, developing democratic cultureand organization is equally imperative and, in the absence of it, neither security nor peace can be survive.

Challenges before Democracy
Globally we witness democracy today being challenged in number of ways, rather in every aspectof society:
*.Challenges to the long-held myth that democracy is the best for development, especially whenremarkable economic successes are produced by countries with other political infrastructures
*.Challenges from autocratic regimes empowered by high oil and gas prices and aspiring to projectinfluence beyond their boundaries
*.Challenges to the view point that democracy is the best way of handing conflicts,when elections have turned violent in several countries
*.Challenges from the widespread vertical distrust of people in political parties and civic bodies which is seen as elitist and unable to perform on economic development and social justice.

Ray of Hope
But we also see signs of hope and promise, by people living in very different societies and under very difficult conditions, demonstrating time and againthat they want to have the voice that only democracy can provide them.
Politics matters to the normal lives and though process of people. This is why making democratic system to work better is of key essence to development, peace and security in Africa. It becomes even more important to provide more support to the African Union’s efforts to build system for politicalengagement.
Building such infrastructure for political evolution can prevent conflict instead of continuing with the too familiar methods of expressing when conflict hasalready intensified. Building such potential for political engagement can also enable to put in place democratic systems that can better cater to the needs of people for economic and social improvement.

Need of the Age
It is also imperative to highlight the needs of democracy to take it to the next level of performance in all relevant countries. Nothing can be considered aspowerful as one consolidateddemocracy. New challenges arise every time and the International Day of Democracy will remind us every year that democracy deserves discussion and should not be considered simply a system to run a country!
The transnational campaign is the common platform for allparticipating countries and will be the uniting action for the campaign.



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Rakesh khudia helpline.pep.peperonity.com

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