Humanity faces many challenging problems throughout the world today, including the misery and conflicts caused by continuing inequity and poverty, the disparity between rich and poor, the collapse of communities and forced migration, the demographic explosion, the oppression of women, cultural and religious conflict, global warming, the pollution of the natural environment, the massive extinction of animals and plants, the waste and exhaustion of non-renewable resources, the multiplication of acts of violence, terrorism, and war, and the risks of spreading weapons of mass destruction. It is long past time that we must come together to support one another and to deal responsibly with our common problems. Humanity today has come to a turning point in history; we need to create a new democratic global order which can bring in an era of peace, global justice and sustainability of the natural world. Thus we, a group of individuals and organizations that has been actively working for world democracy for many years now, have launched THE WAVE and invite you to join it. THE WAVE'S BASIC DEMAND We, the undersigned, hereby demand the establishment of executive, legislative and judiciary institutions of global governance that are democratically elected, transparently monitored, and accountable to all citizens of the world, that protect people's human rights and interests, and that are consistent with the principles of subsidiarity, human legitimacy and political equality. -> Subsidiarity: The principle that decisions must be taken as closely as possible to the citizen and that a global (or higher) level of government should perform only those essential tasks that (for reasons of scale, capacity or need for exclusive power) cannot be effectively undertaken at lower levels of administrative decision-making. -> Human legitimacy: The principle that global policies must be consistent with all of humanity having an equal opportunity to benefit and must promote freedom of conscience and expression, democracy, access to education and knowledge, sustainable development, and environmental preservation. -> Political equality: The principle that global institutions must promote equal access to the decision-making process, facilitate genuine participation by the vulnerable, and provide effective enforcement mechanisms available to all. THE WAVE's mission is to make visible to political decision makers the increasing support for democratic global governance. Political decision makers that think like us need to know we support them, so they feel empowered to take bold steps forward. Political protectionists that defend the current status quo need to know we are confronting them.