International Day of Democracy is held on September 15th, and is held on the same date every year, and tends to have a theme, an example of a previous year’s theme was ‘Democracy and Conflict Prevention’.

International Day of Democracy is an annual day that has been running for 10 years. It is a United Nations, (UN), day of observation, the purpose of the day is to review the state of democracy in the world and uphold and and promote democracy and its principles. The day was founded on the 20th anniversary of the First International Conference of the New or Restored Democracies, which promoted global democracy.

On the day, individuals and organisations of all kinds work together for democracy and hold events to raise awareness of democracy, including conferences, discussions and debates, as well as press conferences and publicity campaigns though distribution of leaflets, posters and flyers, often with the UN logo on them. Major events to commemorate the day are held at UN headquarters.

Democracy and human rights are closely linked, and UN covenants on these matters are to the fore on this observance day. Democracy is a state where the people have rights, especially to vote for and elect their government and regulation from among themselves, rather than being controlled by a government over whom they have no right of dissent, election or protest. Lack of democracy can lead to lack of rights or a voice, and this impacts on human rights as set out by the UN.