In this report, the expert group of the Development Policy Committee (DPC) analyses
the global state of democracy and civil society and Finland’s support for strengthening
democracy and civil society. The report also makes recommendations on what
Finland can do to strengthen democracy globally in its development policy and other
areas of external relations.
After a long period of positive democratic development, the trend has gone into
reverse and in a situation of uncertainty democracy can be undermined anywhere in
the world. Changing this worrying trend will require a more determined approach from
Finland. The main conclusion of the report is that Finland needs to be more active in the
defence of democracy, both nationally and internationally.