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Democracy at the UN Readings For the most recent Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights compilation of documents or texts adopted and used by various intergovernmental, international, regional and subregional organizations aimed at promoting and consolidating democracy, click here If you have a suggestion for a democracy resource, please email us at info@demcoalition.org
Some of the documents on this page are in a
PDF format. To read them, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat
Reader, available for free at the Adobe’s
Web Site. | Back to Top | Home |
Readings on Democracy at the UN For the July 2004 Issue of the American Prospect, Laura Rozen examines the need for UN reform and highlights the efforts underway in support of a UN Democracy Caucus and speaks to the advantages of having such a voting bloc at the UN. To access the article from the American Prospect website, click here.
On June 13, 2004, Walter Cronkite wrote an op-ed on efforts to improve the effectiveness and credibility of the United Nations and endorses the efforts to prevent non-democratic countries from getting a place on the UN Human Rights Commission. To read the op-ed on the Denver Post website click here.
“Making U.N.
Fit for Democracy” "Today's U.N., which entrusts the protection of fundamental human rights to countries that are themselves among the prime violators of these rights, is no longer acceptable. We must modify not only the working mechanisms of the U.N., but also its composition. What is needed is a "World Organization of Democracies," devoted to promoting the original values of the U.N., including democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights." To access the full article, click here.
"Changing the
UN" In its May 3, 2003 editorial the Washington Post encourages the UN to "to create...a democracy caucus that could help fight the battle for human rights and unite countries that otherwise seldom work together." This effort would help to change of some of the more "moribund, corrupt, or...ludicrous" elements of the UN. To view the full article, click here.
"Take Back the
U.N.: Democratic Nations must form an independent caucus"
"Just as the United Nations is preparing to face two important tests of its relevance - how it will deal with crises in Iraq and North Korea - one of its key bodies just voted itself into irrelevancy. On Jan. 20, the 53-nation Human Rights Commission elected Libya its 2003 chairman. Libya is a country still under UN sanction for terrorism, with a human- rights record that Human Rights Watch calls "appalling," and which will use its new position to block the committee from taking any meaningful action. What's wrong with the United Nations?" To view the full article, click here. | Back to Top | Home |
Readings on Democracy Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and Amir Attaran, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, wrote an op-ed in the June 16, 2004 edition of the New York Times urging the World Bank to withhold aid from anti-democratic governments and to give to poverty-striken democracies. To read the op-ed on the New York Times
website (registration required),
In the September/October
issue of Foreign
Policy Rt. Hon. Christopher Patten, External Relations
Commissioner of the EU, looks at the prospects for democracy
in the Middle East and what the West is doing and could be
doing to promote democracy in the region.
In the June & July
2003 issue of Policy
Review US Advisory Board member Larry Diamond writes
that he is cautiously optimistic that any country can become
a democracy.
In the Summer 2003 issue
of The
Washington Quarterly Jennifer Windosr, Executive Director
of Freedom House, discusses the interdependence between democracy
and development
In the July 7, 2003
issue of The
New Republic Robert Kagan argues that democracy should
remain America’s goal abroad | Back to Top | Home |
Documents Related to the Community of Democracies
Warsaw Declaration
| Back to Top | Home |
Topics Foreign Policy American Enterprise Institute Brookings Institution The Carter Center Council on Foreign Relations Partnership for a Secure America Elections Association of Central and Eastern European
Election Officials (ACEEEO) International Foundation for Election Systems
(IFES) International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance
Independent Judiciary Constitution Project International Commission of Jurists
Freedom of the Press/Expression ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free
Expression Committee to Protect Journalists Commonwealth Press Union Index on Censorship International Federation of Journalists
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
IFEX Internews OAS/Interamerican Commission Office of
the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
National Security Archives Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights on the promotion and protection of the right
to freedom of opinion and expression
Human Rights Amnesty International The Carter Center Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Federation internationale des ligues des
droits de L'Homme Freedom House Human Rights Watch The Inter-African Network for Human Rights
and Development Inter-American Institute of Human Rights
International League for Human Rights Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Transparency Anti-Corruption Gateway for Europe and
Eurasia Global Corruption Report Global Report on Crime and Justice Global Policy Forum Transparency International
Civil Society The Centre for the Study of Global Governance
Civicus Civil Society International Eurasia Net NGO Sustainability Index Open Society Institute
Civic Education Civnet
Democracy Organizations and Networks The Centre for Democratic Institutions
The Commission on Global Governance Community of Democracies Democratization Policy Institute Institute for Global Democracy The Trilateral Commission United States Agency for International
Development Democracy and Governance World Movement for Democracy
International Financial Institutions The African Development Bank Asian Development Bank The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development The Inter-American Development Bank International Finance Corporation International Monetary Fund The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
The World Bank
Regional/Multilateral Institutions Association of Southeast Asian Nations
African Union The Caribbean Community Comunidad Adnina Council of Europe Economic Community of West African States
European Union Organization for American States North Atlantic Treaty Organization Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe Southern African Development Community
United Nations
Political Party Foundations Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Friedrich Naumann Stiftung Heinrich Boell Stiftung International Republican Institute Konrad Adenauer Stiftung National Democratic Institute Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy
Westminster Foundation for Democracy | Back to Top | Home | |
