(C) Freedom House
This story was originally published by Freedom House and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Reflecting on 2023: Our Journey Toward a Freer World [1]

[]

Date: 2023-12

As 2023 draws to a close, I want to take a moment to reflect on our journey this year, the challenges we face, and the hope that drives us forward into 2024.

First, I offer my profound thanks to all of you for continuing to engage with and support Freedom House in our efforts to inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders. This fight belongs to all of us, as it will belong to our children and grandchildren. Please consider making a donation before the end of the year—Freedom House cannot do its important work without your support.

Freedom in the World, our flagship annual report on the state of democracy in 210 countries and territories, turned 50 this year. We are proud of its growing impact on policy makers, business leaders, and media, but the celebration has been bittersweet, given the report’s own findings that political rights and civil liberties have been declining globally for 17 consecutive years; our Freedom on the Net report has tracked a corresponding 13-year decline in human rights online. While the world is undeniably freer than it was when we published the first edition of Freedom in the World in 1973, billions of people today live under repression—unable to safely speak their minds, express their identity, peacefully protest their government’s policies, or exercise many of the other fundamental rights that those of us living in democracies too often take for granted.

Against this backdrop of escalating authoritarian aggression—as well as backsliding in democracies like the United States, India, Hungary, and Israel—Freedom House remains undaunted in our efforts to create a world where all people can live freely. In more than 90 countries, our international programs team assisted more than 15,000 embattled human rights defenders, independent journalists, and democracy advocates so they can continue their vital work in the face of authoritarian repression. Our policy and advocacy team pushed governments to take action to support democracy and its defenders and to counter authoritarian threats. For example:

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://freedomhouse.org/article/reflecting-2023-our-journey-towards-freer-world

Published and (C) by Freedom House
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/freedomhouse/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.