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Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies

Background

The item was included in the agenda of the forty-ninth session of the General Assembly, in 1994, at the request of 38 Member States (A/49/236 and Add.1). The item was considered at the forty-ninth to fifty-eighth sessions (resolutions 49/30, 50/133, 51/31, 52/18, 53/31, 54/36, 55/43, 56/96, 58/13 and 58/281).

At its fifty-fifth session, the General Assembly decided to consider the item biennially as from the fifty-sixth session (resolution 55/285).

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly invited Member States, the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, other intergovernmental organizations, national parliaments and other parliamentary organizations, and non-governmental organizations to contribute actively to the follow-up to the Fifth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies and to make additional efforts to identify possible steps in support of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies, including through those steps set out in the Ulaanbaatar Declaration and Plan of Action: Democracy, Good Governance and Civil Society (A/58/387, annexes I and II); encouraged the Secretary-General to continue to improve the capacity of the Organization to respond effectively to the requests of Member States in their efforts to achieve the goals of good governance and democratization; requested the Secretary-General to examine options for strengthening the support provided by the United Nations system for the efforts of Member States to consolidate democracy and good governance; and to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-second session a report on the implementation of the resolution (resolution 60/253).

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly welcomed the outcome of the Sixth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies, convened in Doha from 29 October to 1 November 2006; and urged Qatar, as the Chair of the Sixth International Conference, to proceed with the implementation process and to keep the General Assembly informed, as appropriate, of the progress achieved; requested the Secretary-General to continue to play an active role in facilitating international cooperation within the framework of the follow-up to the Sixth International Conference, with the support of other parts of the United Nations system providing democracy assistance or advice, including, as appropriate, the Democracy Fund; encouraged Governments to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy, including through increased bilateral, regional and international cooperation, taking into account innovative approaches and best practices; and requested the Secretary-General to include in his report to the Assembly at its sixty-second session, a summary of the results of the Sixth International Conference (resolution 61/226).

Document
References for the sixtieth session (agenda item 10)
References for the sixty-first session (agenda item 157)

[Source: Annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-second regular session of the General Assembly (A/62/100, Corr. 1 and Add.1)]