{"id":4632,"date":"2026-09-15T11:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T11:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/?p=4632"},"modified":"2026-09-15T11:07:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T11:07:03","slug":"the-international-day-of-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/?p=4632","title":{"rendered":"The International Day of Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Statement by the Geneva Institute for Human Rights on the International Day of Democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Every year on 15 September, the world marks the International Day of Democracy, reaffirming democracy as a fundamental value for promoting human rights, fundamental freedoms, participation and accountability. The day provides an opportunity to reflect on the state of democracy and the importance of ensuring meaningful participation in public life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>On this occasion, the Geneva Institute for Human Rights emphasizes that democracy goes beyond elections. It is grounded in the meaningful and effective participation of all members of society, respect for fundamental freedoms, pluralism, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, equality before the law, and the right to participate in public affairs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Democratic institutions play an essential role in protecting human rights, promoting justice and accountability, and ensuring that people can participate in decisions that affect their lives. Democracy also requires transparent and accountable institutions, an independent judiciary, a free media, and a vibrant civil society able to operate without undue restrictions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Institute stresses that protecting democracy requires continuous efforts to safeguard fundamental freedoms, strengthen the rule of law, combat discrimination, and ensure equal opportunities for participation. Inclusive and accountable governance is essential to building societies based on justice, stability and respect for human dignity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>On this occasion, the Geneva Institute for Human Rights calls on governments and the international community to strengthen democratic institutions and practices, protect civic space and fundamental freedoms, and create an enabling environment in which individuals and communities can freely express their views and participate in decision-making.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Institute reaffirms its commitment to promoting a culture of human rights and democracy and advancing the values of freedom, equality, participation and accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In a world facing growing challenges to human rights and freedoms, democracy remains a shared responsibility. Respect for human rights, meaningful participation and the rule of law remain essential foundations for more just, inclusive and dignified societies.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Statement by the Geneva Institute for Human Rights on the International Day of Democracy Every year on 15 September, the world marks the International Day of Democracy, reaffirming democracy as a fundamental value for promoting human rights, fundamental freedoms, participation and accountability. The day provides an opportunity to reflect on the state of democracy and ","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4632"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4635,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4632\/revisions\/4635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}