Newsletter N°19 - February 2021
EDITORIAL
A rare opportunity for global democracy
A butterfly beating its wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. It’s an old cliché that we have never felt more extremely than we do today. The climate crisis, mass extinction, humanitarian catastrophes that send ripple effects through neighboring countries, financial crises that spill over to affect the global economy… We are living in a world that is more interconnected than ever.
75 years ago, coming out of the unprecedented devastation of the Second World War, we decided to build global institutions to prevent any such horror from happening again. The United Nations (UN) were called into being to address the problems of a globalised world by working together across borders.
But for too long the UN has seen itself as a geopolitical arena where member states exclusively negotiate their interests. It continues to fall short when it comes to representing us, the citizens of the world.
In a landmark report last month, the UN takes stock of what it has achieved over the past 75 years and where to go from here. The report is based on an ambitiously carried out series of consultations of 1.5 million citizens in all UN member states and one thing is abundantly clear: they - we - think that it is time for a more democratic UN. One way to achieve this is the instrument of a World Citizens’ Initiative. And here’s the good news: the UN75 report agrees with us! It specifically calls for “a ‘citizen proposal initiative’ to the UN General Assembly or other permanent consultation tool.”
With an agenda for reform being drafted as we speak, we now have a rare chance to build a truly inclusive and democratic UN. If you want to learn more on how we plan to do this, join us on Thursday for a webinar.
Let’s use the interconnectedness of our times for good. Let’s use the power of our diverse backgrounds and perspectives to come up with the best possible plans of action. Only our global hive mind can face up to the butterfly effect. We need a UN World Citizens’ Initiative.
Caroline Vernaillen,
Global Manager PR & Community Building, Democracy International
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Upcoming events from our community
- A voice for global citizens: Roadmap towards a World Citizens’ Initiative
25 February 2021, online. More information
- Citizens' Assembly on Germany's Role in the World - Handover to the Bundestag
19 March 2021. More information
- CANCELED: 2021 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy
More information
Join the International Democracy Community to keep posted on democracy events and to promote your own events.
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| The UN we need: key UN report includes calls for World Citizens’ Initiative |
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The newly published UN75 report includes the strong call for a more democratic United Nations with, among other proposals, a World Citizens Initiative. It is a rare window of opportunity to build a more democratic system of global governance.
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| The Conference on the Future of Europe: an Ode to the EU’s shortcomings |
| It has been over seven months since the Conference on the Future of Europe was supposed to start and 15 months since it was first announced. Now, with all three institutions finally publishing their position, the thought of finally launching the Conference is beginning to look more like a reality. |
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| The Citizens' Assembly on "Germany's Role in the World" |
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Last weekend, the Citizens' Assembly on Germany's Role in the World came to a close. From 13 January until 20 February, 160 participants drawn by lot discussed various foreign policy recommendations to the German Bundestag and government.
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| HomeParliaments: Discussing European Solidarity |
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1500 participants, 12 Member States, 31 politicians. People in small groups, linked up through a matching system, had the opportunity to meet online in Pulse of Europe’s 3rd round of the HomeParliaments project.
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| The long road to women’s suffrage in Switzerland |
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The first countries to grant women the vote did so at the end of the 19th century and universal suffrage has been a human right since 1948. Yet Swiss men continued to deny women their participatory rights until 1971. Why did it take so long?
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| Referendums still thriving amid Covid measures |
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In this week’s democracy briefing: as the Swiss government announces new Covid measures, campaigners have been collecting more signatures than ever to challenge them. Also, citizen assemblies take off in Germany and France, and the dust settles(?) after the Capitol riots and ahead of the inauguration of the new US administration.
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