UN General Assembly
2010

woman can even be sentenced to death by stoning for alleged adultery, and both men and women can be executed for no other reason than their sexual orientation. The responsibility to stop such barbaric acts lies firmly with us, the governments. Gender equality remains one of the greatest challenges to human rights and democracy. We therefore welcome the establishment of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and believe it will further the cause of gender equality. Democracy and human rights are not just mutually supporting; one cannot be said to truly exist without the other. The right to participate in a democratic system of government is indeed in itself a human right. Although we have seen democracy spread to new countries, a large part of the world’s population is still denied the right to participate in free elections. We call upon the Government of Myanmar to make its November election free, fair and inclusive. In this context, we reiterate our call for the release of the