https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2023/marking-50-years
"The global struggle for democracy approached a possible turning point in 2022.
The gap between the number of countries that registered overall improvements in
political rights and civil liberties and those that registered overall declines
was the narrowest it has ever been through 17 consecutive years of
deterioration.
The most serious setbacks for freedom and democracy were the result of war,
coups, and attacks on democratic institutions by illiberal incumbents. The
authoritarian regime in Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in a
bid to scuttle that country’s hard-won democratic progress. New coups and other
attempts to undermine representative government destabilized Burkina Faso,
Tunisia, Peru, and Brazil. Previous years’ coups and ongoing repression
continued to diminish basic liberties in Guinea and constrain those in settings
such as Turkey, Myanmar, and Thailand. Afghanistan’s Taliban regime barred
girls from receiving an education in the midst of an ongoing economic and
humanitarian crisis. Governments and occupying powers used violence and other
means to destroy cultures and change the ethnic composition of populations in
21 countries and territories, including Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Myanmar.
A total of 34 countries showed improvements in political rights and civil
liberties, compared with 35 that lost ground, signaling a possible slowdown in
the global decline. Democratic gains were achieved through more transparent and
competitive elections in Lesotho, Colombia, and Kenya. A lifting of
pandemic-related restrictions that disproportionately affected freedom of
assembly and freedom of movement also produced positive change, as did a
renewed commitment to judicial independence in some countries.
In addition to these outright improvements, the year brought fresh evidence of
the limits of authoritarian power. Authoritarian influence at the United
Nations and other international organizations faltered as democracies
reaffirmed the value of multilateral engagement. Ukrainians, with material
support from many democracies, beat back a vast Russian army that was hampered
by decades of corruption. In China, the ruling Communist Party’s onerous and
politicized COVID-19 policies were abruptly dismantled in the face of public
protests."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-maternal-mortality-high-seas-atlantic-forest/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
