Credit: © SIP / Emmanuel Claude

On Friday 18 November 2022, the ministers and high-level representatives of the 38 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries and candidate countries met in Luxembourg to reaffirm their common commitment to the defence and strengthening of the democratic values ​​which bind.

Participants welcomed the adoption of a set of measures aimed at making democracies more responsive and resilient.

The OECD Ministerial Meeting on Public Governance, with the theme "Building Trust and Strengthening Democracy", was held under the chairmanship of Luxembourg and the vice-chairmanship of Colombia, the United States, France and Lithuania and led to the adoption of the Luxembourg Declaration on Building Confidence and Strengthening Democracy, providing in particular:

  • A set of action plans dedicated to countering misinformation, participation and representation (including gender equality), and “green governance”.
  • The launch of the OECD Global Forum on Building Trust and Strengthening Democracy as a platform for sharing knowledge, assessing and improving public governance.
  • The launch of the OECD Resource Center platform on disinformation, aimed at helping governments, media and civil society organizations to strengthen their respective and joint actions in strengthening the integrity of the information.
  • An invitation to the OECD to conduct its survey every two years on the determinants of trust in public institutions.

“Today Ministers took stock of the main developments affecting our democratic systems, including the demand expressed by citizens for greater participation and representation, the growing weight of foreign influence, the evolution of information ecosystems, green policies and the digital transformation of our societies”, said the Minister of Justice of Luxembourg, Sam Tanson. “The far-reaching collective commitments adopted today will help governments address these challenges and strengthen the foundations of our democratic systems to make them more resilient and responsive in the future.”

The ministerial meeting was preceded on 17 November by the OECD Global Forum on Building Confidence and Strengthening Democracy. The Global Forum brought together more than 250 actors from government, business, civil society, media and academia from more than 70 countries, who shared their views on key issues and solutions+ to adapt democracy to the 21st century.