Your voice matters in making the world a healthier place

At times I feel overwhelmed about all the bad news popping up as notifications on my phone: violence in places like Khartoum (Sudan), Joliet (US) or Donbas (Ukraine); dilutions of climate agreements at the Glasgow COP26 conference or the ongoing death spiral triggered by Covid-19. The sheer speed of incoming breaking news can create a slight feeling of doubt at times, that we as human beings, citizens in charge, really are able to make the progress we urgently need – to make the world a healthier place, by becoming more peaceful, more careful with nature and by strengthening our immunity.

But as soon as I lift my eyes beyond the screen, I feel and understand something completely different: on my desk I see my documents for the upcoming November 28 nationwide initiative and referendum votes in Switzerland. This time we are deciding on an initiative for improving working conditions of our health workers, another initiative to change the way we appoint our highest judges and a referendum (already the second this year) on the legislation governing Switzerland’s battle against the coronavirus.

Yes, it is truly encouraging that we the people are in charge to make important decisions. While most countries around the world do have some tools enshrined in their constitution or legislation about modern direct democracy (there are currently more than 2,000 different tools available in 109 countriesExternal link), in most places these rights are far from being user-friendly and accessible. This week I had the opportunity to meet with legislators, election administrators and scholars in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, where a new law on local referendums is currently in the making.

I also met Dylan Carter, a journalist with the country’s most renowned English-language newspaper, the Kyiv Post. This publication, for many years one of the most independent, was shut down just a few days ago by an oligarch who wants to transform the paper into a megaphone for his business interest. The conversation with Dylan will soon be added to our “Global Voices of Freedom” series.

Freedom of expression and of the press has come under big pressure in recent years. The new Global State of Democracy report published this week by International IDEA offers some scary reading, as the number of countries threatening these basic freedoms has increased from 19 in 2010 to 32 in 2021. But again, there are ways forward, something I managed to experience a few days in ago in Lisbon, where I had the honour of moderating the “Future of Europe” seminarExternal link on freedom of press. Here I met with brave colleagues like Matthew Caruana Galizia from Malta, whose mother Daphne was killed because of her investigative journalistic work, or Márton Kárpáti from Hungary, one of the key people behind the newly established media platform index.hu.

While such encounters always offer insights into often unwelcome circumstances, they also carry a lot of hope and confidence: people caring and sharing about our common universal values of freedom and democracy are key to the future. And it doesn’t have to be on the world stage or in the spotlight of international media. A story by Kristin Kranenberg, from a small Swiss city, where randomly selected citizens worked on a local programme to protect climate, piqued my interest the other day. Here it is all about making your voice heard and listening to others as a way to find a path forward for concrete solutions.

This is truly encouraging – and it’s an invitation to lift your eyes from the screen as much as you can and make your voice heard. If you have a story to share or a voice to raise – caring about the state and future of democracy in your community, let us know, write to us!

Yours democratically,

Bruno Kaufmann