The International Day of Democracy

The participation of young people as the topic of the International Day of Democracy

Today, 15th of September, the entire world celebrates the International Day of Democracy. This year, the main topic is the importance of engaging youth in democracy. People between the ages of 15 and 25 constitute a fifth of the world’s population. It is the moment to promote their participation in democratic process across the world.

As Kofi Annan, the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations and the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, said: "Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on
society's margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies."

In order to promote the youth involvement in the democratic process, many organizations are doing some activities and events today and during the following days. For instance, you can join the Democracy photo contest, which is showing pictures of positive changes in society on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/internationaldayofdemocracy. Here you can see all the events that are taking place in different countries to celebrate the Day of Democracy: http://www.ipu.org/dem-e/idd/events.htm

But what is democracy? Maybe it is easier to say what it is not. It is not to only vote once every four years. It is not even a concept or a closed idea, it is something under construction, something imperfect which everybody has to improve. We find democracy in all spheres of our life. Democracy is a universal value because everybody should have the right to participate in democratic governance, which is directly connected with the respect of human rights and freedom of expression in economic and social policies. It involves decision-making on policies and legislations by citizens in a popular assembly.

The International Day of Democracy was first celebrated in 2008. On the 8th of November 2007, the United Nations General Assembly decided to establish the 15th of September as the Day of Democracy in order to promote public awareness about democracy and democratic values. However, this resolution has its background in the Universal Declaration of Democracy adopted in September 1997 by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organization which became the first permanent forum about political negotiations. National parliaments of 163 countries belong to the IPU, which has the permanent observer status at the United Nations and the general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.

Since 2008 the topics of the International Day
of Democracy has been:

2013:
Strengthening Voices for Democracy.

2012:
Dialogue and Inclusiveness - Central to Democracy.

2011:
What do Citizens expect from their Parliament?

2010:
Political accountability: Strengthening links between parliaments and citizens.

2009:
Democracy and Political Tolerance.

2008:
International Day of Democracy.

You can find more information about the topic in the following link: http://www.ipu.org/idd/

Isabel Barragan Vera