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Democracy
Context: Democracy – a precondition for development
Democracy is the only known political system that guarantees people political and civil rights and the right to participation. Over the course of history, no other form of government has proved to be so successful, so humane and so conducive to development.
The international community too has recognised that social, economic and environmental progress and broad-based growth can only be achieved and secured on a sustainable basis within a democratic political system based on the rule of law. Therefore the Millennium Declaration stresses that the right of all people to live in dignity and freedom is best ensured through democratic governance based on the will of the people. Germany and its partners in the international community agree that in all countries there is a need to strengthen capacities which contribute to the implementation of democratic principles and procedures and to respect for human rights.
Emerging democracies
Many democracies are still emerging, suffer from weak or corrupt government structures, are unable to guarantee legal certainty and fail to protect human rights.
According to the 2009 annual report of the NGO Freedom House (Freedom in the World 2009), fundamental human rights and political freedoms were being respected in 89 of the 193 of the countries studied (46 per cent). For another 62 countries (32 per cent) this was at least partially true, with fundamental rights being to some extent compromised and the rule of law poorly developed. 42 countries were classed by Freedom House as "not free". In these countries there were serious and systematic human rights violations.
In 2008, 27 states were classed as fragile in accordance with World Bank criteria. Many of these countries were in Africa. Most are among the poorest countries in the world, have very low levels of economic and social development and are thus a long way from attaining the Millennium Development Goals.
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