"Today's democracies faced with a hybrid of global challenges, whose impact and complexity are really unprecedented in human history," Shahbaz Khan, director of Beijing Office of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said on Thursday at the International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values.

"The concept and practical mechanisms of democracy are still being hotly debated in international arena. In its essence, democracy is reflection of a country's history and culture. Each country must therefore design a governance model that best reflects its own culture and needs," Khan remarked.