UN General Assembly
2024

Today, in the West, we often forget that democracy is more than simply placing a ballot in a box every four or five years. The essence of democracy lies in the values it embodies—dignity, tolerance, equality, liberty, and respect for individuals and nations. These values are human rights. Rights that this General Assembly committed to protect seventy-six years ago with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet the spirit in which that Declaration was forged—a symbol of peace and dignity after two devastating world wars—seems to be gradually fading. The rise of extremist political ideologies is a reaction to an order perceived as under threat. The feeling that a not-so-distant past was better than the present haunts today’s generations and is fuelled by fears that climate change will worsen living conditions, that globalisation and migration dilute and depersonalise our societies, and that today’s children and youth will live worse lives than their parents. We stand at a pivotal moment. We can no longer veil the real debate with rhetoric to avoid addressing this situation.