ABSTRACT: From the "Human Development Report 1991", published by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme):

(The Party New, n.2, July 1991)

If the obstacles to the development of humanity lay in the poverty of resources and insurmountable technological barriers, then our task would be desperate.

We know, however, that all too often it is the lack of political will which causes the underdevelopment, the non-action, of men. If we could mobilize the political will for action -- at national and global level -- then the future of human development would be assured. The overall objective, to reorganize human development, is only possible with an effective political strategy. If resources are poorly distributed, the cause is generally political.

Reorganization can therefore only be carried out if sufficient political efforts are directed to this end. First of all democratic freedom must be encouraged. If a society is free, wealth is not always necessary to gain influence. Democracy is the precious ally of all people. And, in fact, the poor countries that have achieved economic progress are those which are based on multi-party systems and in which there are free elections. In Latin America one example is Costarica, and in Africa Botswana and Mauritius.

Democracy allows transparency and encourages the importance and the role of the law: it makes it possible to report violations of human rights and therefore improves control over such rights.