Humanity is facing particularly grave problems and challenges at present: we still have not achieved peace and security based on justice and freedom in the world; huge numbers of our planet's inhabitants live in deplorable conditions of poverty; the rich countries continue to be shackled to a model of economic growth whose impact on the environment jeopardises the sustainability of life for future generations; the loss of cultural diversity is impoverishing, perhaps irreversibly, one of humanity's most important characteristics.

The process of globalisation intensifies the interrelations and interdependence of the world's problems and challenges. As a result, what happens on a global scale has a decisive influence that, on a local level, affects the life of each and every citizen of the world. Moreover, the globalisation process is leading to a weakening of political authority: while markets are becoming increasingly global, the influence of political institutions required for their democratic, equitable and efficient functioning decreases every day.

In such a context, the breakdown of the international system of peace and security -made clear most recently by the war in Iraq and the unilateral course of action embarked upon by the world's leading power- has caused widespread turmoil, with serious consequences for the System of International Institutions, particularly the United Nations. Unilateral action in questions of peace and security has become part of the global equation, making in-depth reform of the world's institutional system even more necessary and urgent.

Multilateral international policies intended to resolve the severe development problems affecting the world fail to be implemented due to a lack of political will and of the financial resources called for. Very few of the hopes raised by the UN summits in the 1990s and the United Nations Millennium Summit (including the Millennium Development Goals) are being fulfilled. The United Nations does not have the ability or the possibilities required to confront these development issues, responsibility for which seems to have been shifted onto the market, mainly through policies promoted by the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization.

Faced with this situation, people all over the world are beginning to claim their democratic entitlement to participate in decisions that affect their lives so directly. Global Civil Society should play a key role in promoting the democratisation of the System of International Institutions. This Campaign therefore intends to encourage a series of reforms of International Institutions towards a global system of democratic governance, through representative procedures involving the participation of all the actors in the global arena. Its objective is to contribute to the creation of a consistent, transparent, responsible and effective global architecture, based on developing international legislation with widely accepted democratic value and legitimacy. At the heart of this System would be a stronger, more democratic United Nations Organisation, with effective control over all its bodies and agencies and over global multilateral organisations. An institutional system that would in this way contribute to building a fairer, more equitable, diverse, sustainable and peaceful world.