A/RES/53/31 Page 3 Having considered the report of the Secretary-General8 and its focus on innovative ways and means to enable the Organization to respond effectively and in an integrated manner to requests of Member States for assistance in the field of good governance and democratization, 1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General;8 2. Expresses its appreciation for the activities carried out by the United Nations system, as well as the observations and recommendations contained in the report, with respect to building a political culture through human rights observance, mobilization of civil society, electoral assistance, free and independent media, enhancing the rule of law and improving accountability, transparency and quality of public sector management and democratic structures of government; 3. Invites the Secretary-General, Member States, the relevant specialized agencies and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to continue to contribute actively to the follow-up process of the Third International Conference of New or Restored Democracies on Democracy and Development;9 4. Commends the Secretary-General, and through him the United Nations system, for the activities undertaken at the request of Governments to support the efforts to consolidate democracy; 5. Welcomes the measures taken within the organizations of the Administrative Committee on Coordination for coordinating their work carried out in the field of democratization; 6. Welcomes also the work carried out by the follow-up mechanism to the Third International Conference of New or Restored Democracies on Democracy and Development; 7. Recognizes that the United Nations has an important role to play in providing timely, appropriate and coherent support to the efforts of Governments to achieve democratization within the context of their development efforts; 8. Stresses that the activities undertaken by the Organization must be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations; 9. Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to improve the capacity of the Organization to respond effectively to the requests of Member States through coherent, adequate support of their efforts to achieve the goals of good governance and democratization; 10. Encourages Member States to promote democratization and to make additional efforts to identify possible steps to support the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies; 8 A/53/554 and Corr.1. 9 Ibid., chap. II. /...