Freedom In The World 2020 Report

News:The Freedom in the World 2020 report has been released by the Freedom House,a United States based NGO.

Facts:

About the report:

• The report assesses the political rights and civil liberties of 195 countries worldwide.
• It derives its methodology from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. 
• It ranks countries based on political rights indicators such as the electoral process, political pluralism, participation , government functioning, rule of law, civil liberties among others.

Key takeaways from the report:

• Of the 195 countries assessed, 83 (43%) were rated Free, 63 (32%) were Partly Free and 49 (25%) were Not Free.
• The share of Free countries has declined by 3% over the last decade, while the percentage of Partly Free and Not Free countries rose by 2% and 1% respectively.

Report on India:

• The report kept India in the Free category and ranked it at the 83rd position along with Timor-Leste and Senegal.
• However, the report has assessed Indian Kashmir as a separate territory which saw its total score drop from 49 to 28 this year moving it from a status of Partly Free to Not Free.