Today is International Day of Democracy. In the UK we believe that democracy rests on respect for every individual in society, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other status. In fact this forms an indivisible part of our foreign policy. Through the work of the FCO we support not only electoral processes but also a range of initiatives to promote democracy around the world. The UK provides support for democratic consolidation, taking account of the individual characteristics of each country, its history and its culture; we support the internal processes once a transition towards democracy is underway; and we work with regional organisations such as the EU, AU, OSCE and the Commonwealth to strengthen their democracy work. At the time of the system change here, the British Embassy in Budapest worked hard to embed the practices of democracy in Hungary – for example, sending opposition politicians to Westminster to share best practice.
The FCO’s report on the specific, practical steps we took in 2010 to improve and strengthen our Human Rights and Democracy work is now available online. If you would like to know more about the FCO’s role in this important area you can read, share and comment on either the whole report or individual sections on our website.