Context: International Day of Democracy is celebrated every year on 15th September as an opportunity to review the state of Democracy in the world. This year's theme for this day is 'Covid-19 : A Spotlight on Democracy'. Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in various social, political and legal challenges accross the world. 

• India, the largest democracy in the world, continues to inspire people globally when the country goes to polls every five years. Social scientists attribute this unique quality to "the opening and last sentences of the preamble: 'We, the people... adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution' signifies the power is ultimately vested in the hands of the people". 
• International Day of Democracy is a United Nations designated day, observed every year on September 15. 
• This year the democracy day assumes great significance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• "As the world confronts COVID-19, democracy is crucial in ensuring the free flow of information, participation in decision-making and accountability for the response to the pandemic'.

Concerns in many countries in the context of COVID-19 include:  

• Measures to control the flow of information and crackdown on freedom of expression and press freedom against an existing background of shrinking civic space.
• Arrest, detention, prosecution or persecution of political opponents, journalists, doctors and healthcare workers, activists and others for allegedly spreading “fake news”.
• Aggressive cyber-policing and increased online surveillance.
• Postponement of elections is raising serious constitutional issues in some cases and may lead to rising tensions.

Solutions to those Challenges
Around the world civil society organizations have answered the UN's call to action to address and counteract the wide range of ways the Covid-19 crisis may impair democracy and increase authoritarianism, by:

• developing media literacy and digital safety, more critical than ever as activism is forced online, so as to address the risk of suppression, interference and closing of civic space;
• fighting misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, which have mushroomed in the crisis;
• training journalists remotely to report on the impact of the pandemic with in-depth, fact-checked coverage, while staying safe on the front line;
• empowering women against gender-based violence, which has surged amid Covid-19 lockdowns, quarantines, and social and economic pressures;

helping to highlight the challenges of inequality and weak service delivery made worse by the crisis, with specific focus on the needs and rights of women, youth, minorities and other marginalized populations, so as to help hold governments to account.