United Nations General Assembly A/RES/55/96 Distr.: General 28 February 2001 Fifty-fifth session Agenda item 114 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/55/602/Add.2 and Corr.1)] 55/96. Promoting and consolidating democracy The General Assembly, Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirming also that everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 Bearing in mind Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1999/57 of 27 April 1999 2 and 2000/47 of 25 April 2000, 3 Recognizing the indissoluble link between human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the international human rights treaties and the foundation of any democratic society, and reaffirming the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, 4 which states that democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, Recalling that all peoples have the right to self-determination, by virtue of which they can freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development, Recalling also that, in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the World Conference on Human Rights recommended that priority should be given to national and international action to promote democracy, development and human rights and that the international community should support the strengthening and promotion of democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the entire world, 1 Resolution 217 A (III). See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1999, Supplement No. 3 (E/1999/23), chap. II, sect. A. 3 Ibid., 2000, Supplement No. 3 and corrigendum (E/2000/23 and Corr.1), chap. II, sect. A. 4 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III. 2 00 56515