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A significant amount of attention, media articles and opinions in the recent years have been dedicated to two interrelated phenomena in politics. First, there is an increasing tide of citizen-led protests around the world, especially since 2010. From Occupy and `indignados` movements to the anti-government protests in the streets of Istanbul or Ouagadougou, people are increasingly expressing and taking their political interests to the streets.

The Office of the Permanent Observer for International IDEA to the UN and IDEA’s Democracy and Diversity Team will host a side event on “Enhancing Political Participation of Indigenous Peoples and the Post-2015 Development Agenda” in the framework of the 14^th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The event will take place on Monday, 20 April 2015 from 13:15 to 14:30 (EST), in New York.

When it comes to gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout the globe, one thing is certain: inaction is not an option.

International IDEA took the floor at a recent high-level UN debate convened by 

Scholars in the fields of local democracy, decentralization and good governance will gather today to discuss tools and mechanisms featured in two new publications: The Imperative of Good Local Governance: Challenges for the Next Decade of Decentralization and Democratic Local Governance: Reforms and Innovations in Local Democracy in Asia.

International IDEA and The Carter Center, in collaboration with the Electoral Assistance Division of the UN Department of Political Affairs, have co-organized a launch of two publications on obligations and standards for assessing electoral integrity.

NEW YORK—The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and The Carter Centertoday will launch two publications that break new ground on reviewing and assessing legal frameworks for elections.

International IDEA Secretary-General Yves Leterme, and The Carter Center CEO Mary Ann Peters will present the publications at the United Nations headquarters and discuss their conceptualization and purpose.  

Sustainable development is like a four-legged chair: one needs all four legs of development–economic, social, environmental and governance–in order for it to function. Removing any one leg of the chair renders it inoperable. These words from International IDEA’s Secretary-General Yves Leterme succinctly sum up the position of International IDEA as the post-2015 agenda becomes ever more pressing.

International IDEA Secretary-General Yves Leterme is in New York 21-26 September for the opening of the 69^thSession of the United Nations General Assembly. On 22 September International IDEA co-hosted the High Level Side-Event, “Good Governance, Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda,” with the Governments of Botswana and Norway.

As UN Member States focus on the post-2015 development agenda, they could do no better than to reflect on the results of a recent UN conducted survey in which millions of people throughout the world listed honest and responsive government as one of their top priorities. As a recent meeting in New York shows, there is still some way to go before such aims are translated into action.

How to engage the youth of the world in politics has become a pressing issue. On the one hand, many see politics as irrelevant, yet the rise of social media has given youth a powerful means to express themselves.

For a truly transformative post-2015 development framework, democratic processes are a must, including full participation, equitable consideration of input, self-determination and empowerment of all people.

“The universal nature of democracy as something which people all over the world aspire to is clear from citizens’ own actions and demands for democracy.”

Democratic accountability for public service delivery is an important dimension of the post-2015 development agenda.

On 15 May 2014, International IDEA hosted an event in New York entitled Advancing Genuine Political Participation: Strategies for Overcoming Exclusion for Marginalized Groups.

On 9 May 2014, International IDEA’s Permanent Observer to the UN, Massimo Tommasoli, addressed a group of Permanent Representatives and Heads of Delegations to the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG/SDGs) on the need for promoting inclusive, accountable and effective institutions in the post-2015 Development Agenda.

Democracy is a recognized international goal in its own right. In the Millennium Declaration, UN Member States commit to spare no effort to promote democracy. Supporting democracy around the world is a cornerstone of the foreign and development policies of many donor countries.

This week, on 6–7 February 2014, the issue of democratic governance will be addressed by the UN Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN Headquarters in New York. Simultaneously, the office of International IDEA’s Permanent Observer to the UN is co-organizing two side-events on the role of democracy in the post-2015 development agenda and how to measure democratic governance.

This paper presents the conclusions and recommendations from an international round table on ‘Democracy and Human Rights’ held at the United Nations in New York on 11–12 July 2011 and co-organized by International IDEA, the UN Department of Political Affairs and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.