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2021 Open Societies Statement

Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England, June 13, 2021
[PDF]

We, the leaders of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the United States of America and the European Union, reaffirm our shared belief in open societies, democratic values and multilateralism as foundations for dignity, opportunity and prosperity for all and for the responsible stewardship of our planet. As leaders of over half of the world's population living in democracies, we believe it is imperative that we reaffirm and encourage others to embrace the values that bind us together, including our respect for international rules and norms relating to:

These founding values define our inclusive way of life and benefit our people. Fundamental freedoms empower people and inspire the innovation and ingenuity needed to maximise opportunities, tackle shared challenges and drive progress for the world. Openness encourages collaboration that delivers better outcomes than any nation could achieve alone.

As we build back better from the pandemic, we must continue to deliver a better quality of life for our people, with no one left behind. We are at a critical juncture, facing threats to freedom and democracy from rising authoritarianism, electoral interference, corruption, economic coercion, manipulation of information, including disinformation, online harms and cyber attacks, politically motivated internet shutdowns, human rights violations and abuses, terrorism and violent extremism. We also face threats to our social fabric from persistent inequalities and discrimination, including racism and resistance to gender equality. In the midst of these threats we will work together to create an open and inclusive rules-based international order for the future that promotes universal human rights and equal opportunities for all. Our democratic systems are strong and resilient, but we cannot be complacent – we address our own vulnerabilities and tackle common threats. In this spirit, we commit to cooperate together and with partners to:

We look forward to building on these commitments in other multilateral fora, including at the G20 Summit, the UN and US Summit for Democracy. We resolve to collaborate with partners around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific and Africa, to actively promote these shared values for the good of all. We call on all like-minded partners to support this statement.

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Source: Official Website of the G7 UK Presidency

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This page was last updated July 04, 2024 .