Pedro Sánchez stresses the need to give young people the tools they need to defend democracy

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has spoken by videoconference at the III Summit for Democracy, an initiative launched by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in December 2021 to strengthen democratic freedoms and institutions vis-à-vis current challenges and threats, and which this year was held in South Korea under the theme "Democracy for Future Generations".

During his speech, President Sánchez defended the need to address "without paternalism" the problems of the younger generations to defend a democracy that is "threatened in many places".

Disinformation, inequality and the successive crises they have faced are some of the challenges that have led to a distance between young people and democratic institutions, in which they have progressively lost confidence. To reverse this trend "we need to take action", the president said.

To this end, it is necessary to provide young people with the necessary tools to face these challenges. Sánchez explained that what is required is the encouragement of well-informed debates, integrating this into decision-making, building a good education system that "goes ahead, not backwards, a constantly changing labour market" and the provision of tools to defend against misinformation and strengthen rights in the age of digitalisation.

However, the president clarified, it is not enough to empower young people, but we must also tackle inequalities and fight for social justice because "if we fail, the adults of tomorrow will no longer believe that democracy is the most effective political system to guarantee peace and progress for all".

Spain's commitments

The president stressed that Spain is one of the 24 full democracies in the world, highlighting the country's commitment to the democratic principles defended at this Summit.

In this regard, Spain and the other participating states made several commitments in the previous edition on the defence of democracy against authoritarianism, the fight against corruption and the promotion of respect for human rights. The president recalled that Spain contributes to this initiative through the fulfilment of four specific commitments.

The first is the "Democracy Programme", which Spain launched in February 2023 to promote democracy, political and social dialogue and exchange between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The second is the "Ellas+ Fund" to support gender equality, under the commitment to expand this fund designed to promotes the effective participation of women in political life, boosting real leadership.

The third is Spain's accession to the Blue Dot Network (BDT) programme, a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that meet robust international quality standards and promote the principles of sustainable infrastructure development worldwide, thereby raising standards of quality and transparency.

Last, the President of the Government highlighted his commitment to establish a regular accountability mechanism. Since December 2020 and until the call for the general elections held in July 2023, the accountability report "Cumpliendo" was presented publicly and online to the main stakeholders in our country, civil society, media and academia, on a biannual basis. This mechanism has been the object of international and national dissemination and will be maintained during this legislature, consolidating itself in practice as a tool for government transparency.

Non official translation