A/HRC/24/54
IV. Concluding remarks
23.
The Romanian State Secretary for Political Affairs and Liaison with
Parliament, Radu Podgorean, pointed out that the United Nations and regional
organizations can offer an important framework for the exchange of experience and
the sharing of best practices. He also stressed that the international community has a
responsibility to offer a general framework for the development of human rights
through the promotion of peace. He suggested that an international forum could be
established in order to elaborate a framework for education, democracy and human
rights. He also encouraged the promotion of resolution 19/6.
24.
The member of the Executive Board of Femmes Africa Soldarité, Brigitte
Balipou, emphasized the need for strong and robust institutions and support for
international and regional mechanisms. She also stressed the importance of
combatting impunity. She called for the full implementation of Security Council
resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security.
25.
The Secretary-General of the International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance, Vidar Helgesen, reiterated that democracy can only be sustained
if it was owned by citizens. Moreover, political process and institutions must be
inclusive. However, he cautioned that inclusion takes time and cannot be rushed. He
stressed the need to move from the normative to the realities on the ground and
suggested that the post-2015 development agenda could be an opportunity in that
regard, including by setting democracy as a development goal on the post-2015
development agenda.
26.
The Vice-President of the Arab Parliament of the League of Arab States, Aisha
al-Mannai, underlined that good governance is the basis for democracy, the rule of
law and human rights. She recommended the implementation of the recommendations
set out in the above-mentioned study of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
She also recalled the importance of dialogue in democracies.
27.
The Permanent Delegate of Peru to the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization in Paris, Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros, underlined that
building democracies is a multidimensional task, which includes establishing the rule
of law and access to the exercise of power through democratic structures. He also
emphasized that the protection of human rights is not a solely domestic matter
anymore. Legal systems have also been established for the protection of democracy,
including “democracy clauses”. He called for the elaboration of a United Nations
declaration on democracy. He also suggested integrating respect for democracy and
the rule of law as medium and long-term assessment benchmarks in the Universal
Periodic Review process.
28.
The President of the Moroccan National Human Rights Council, Driss elYazami, referred to the importance of coherent efforts to strengthen democracy by
the multiple actors in this field and called for strengthening consistency between the
various efforts and actors. He also reiterated the fundamental importance of elections
and political participation in general. In that context, he called for further reflection
on how to ensure a participative democracy. He stressed the particular importance of
ensuring participation of persons with disabilities.
9
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