The strength of democracy is equivalent to the strength of political participation of citizens and this must be increased for world peace, social cohesion, and development, said the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), marking International Day of Democracy today.

IPU called for a major stepping-up of efforts to involve the public more deeply in informal political processes and institutions, including parliaments.

In a release, it urged parliaments to be more open and accessible to people.

"Democracy as a concept is based on the right of every individual to take part and be represented in the management of public affairs," said IPU President Saber Hossain Chowdhury.

"Although there are 190 parliaments in the world with the vast majority of parliamentarians directly elected, much more progress needs to be made on the actual practice of democracy."

The release said too few women, young people, minorities and indigenous people are represented in parliament and government. According to IPU data, women account for just over 22 percent of all parliamentarians in the world and less than 18 percent of  all government ministers.

IPU's statistics shows that less than two percent of all Members of Parliament (MPs) below 30 years of age.

Although indigenous peoples make up five percent of the global population and account for one third of the one billion extremely poor rural people, an IPU survey in 2014 found that out of more than 45,000 MPs in the world, less than 1,000 were indigenous people.