The first is a Guidance Note of the Secretary General on the United Nations Approach to Democracy. This has emerged out of consultations within the Inter-Agency Working Group on Democracy of the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, and sets out ‘the United Nations framework for democracy’.

The second document is an ‘advanced unedited copy’ Report of the Secretary General on climate change and its possible security implications. The summary of the latter identifies ‘democratic governance’ as one of the ‘threat minimizers’ which can help to lower the risks of climate-related insecurity. 

Our own open letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, four days later on International Day of Democracy, unconsciously served to shine a spotlight on the links between these themes.

However difficult might be for the United Nations to work collectively on democracy given its diverse membership, it is good to see concrete signs of progress both in terms of elaborating an acceptable UN approach to democracy and democratisation at the national level, and in terms of its linkages to the most pressing sustainable development challenge of our time.