Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

The rule of law underpins democracy. We support democracy worldwide because
we believe it is the system of government that best provides for free and fair
societies. We recognise that countries develop at different paces and that our
support will need to be specific to the context. Establishing stable democracies
takes time, but supporting the development of democracy is in our national interest.
Societies that enjoy genuinely participative participatory democracy are more likely
to be secure and prosperous in the longer term, as democratic development
alleviates poverty, reduces corruption and creates the conditions to sustain
economic growth.
Democracy rests on respect for each individual in society, regardless of race,
religion, gender, sexual orientation or other status. We are committed to fighting all
forms of discrimination and intolerance. We place special emphasis on combating
the global rise of religious intolerance, including Islamophobia, antisemitism and
violence against Christian communities or other faiths. We continue to champion
women’s rights and gender equality against the discrimination that still exists in both
the developed and developing world. We will also promote freedom of expression as
an essential element of our work on democracy and all our human rights priorities.
But we will be judged by our actions and not just by our words. In order to achieve
our human rights objectives we provided £5 million from our Strategic Priority Fund
for Human Rights and Democracy in practical, real world support in 2010 to more
than 100 human rights and democracy projects in over 40 countries. These included
local-run initiatives to strengthen human rights mechanisms, improve criminal justice
systems, promote equality, improve electoral processes, promote and protect the
role of civil society and strengthen freedom of expression.
The Government’s efforts are focused where we believe the UK is best placed to
effect change and to shape international practice. Much of our work is in support of
locally based projects, run by local organisations that understand the situation on the
ground. But all of our embassies and high commissions have a responsibility to
monitor and raise human rights in their host countries and to take action on individual
cases of persecution or discrimination. We also lobby for changes in discriminatory
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