IDEA’s Activities in East Africa:
Political Party Strengthening Programme in Sudan
In July 2006 International IDEA began a three year project in Sudan called the Political Party Strengthening Programme in Sudan. The project is a partnership lead by International IDEA together with EISA, the Canadian Parliamentary Centre and Partners in Development Services (PDS) in Sudan. The project is funded by a grant from DFID through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). (click here for more details)
Support to Political Parties in East Africa
IDEA is involved in an extensive project in Africa for supporting political parties in the region. The project is part of a global programme that IDEA is engaged in conducting a survey of both the internal functioning of political parties (addressing issues such as how is the leader elected, what is the women’s representation, how are candidates selected) and the external environment (regulatory framework) governing political parties.
In East Africa IDEA in partnership with the Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF) in Ethiopia IDEA is conducting a comprehensive survey of the external (regulatory framework) and internal environments (internal organization, funding and women's representation) of political parties in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. In addition the following countries will be part of a desk study focussing solely on the external regulations of political parties in Somalia, Djibouti, Seychelles, Madagascar, and Eritrea.
After the research is completed IDEA will facilitate a dialogue workshop at the regional level in December 2005 in Mombassa, Kenya. The workshop will discuss internal regulation and self-management practices, which complement external regulation or substitutes for the absence thereof. Key issues include mechanisms parties employ to ensure diversity among their candidates for public office and how members are included in party decision-making.
As a result political parties share experiences and options, empowering them to make informed decisions about their own party, while learning from others. In addition party members, activist groups and civil society will benefit from materials and information to stimulate debate in and on parties and democracy. Democracy assistance providers and other actors serving political parties will acquire access to ‘best practices’ and tools for their work.
Support to Democracy at the Local Level in East Africa
In East Africa IDEA’s work on Democracy at the Local level has been in a project designed to build the capacity for leadership at the local level. The project, in partnership with the African Union of Local Authorities and the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, focuses on developing tools to enhance citizens’ participation at the local level including:
Development of a local democracy assessment instrument to evaluate conditions of local democracy in the region.
A pilot democracy assessment in was conducted in 4 cities in Gaborone (Botswana), Lusaka (Zambia), Mwanza (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). A report "Democracy at the Local Level in East and Southern Africa: Profiles in Governance" was produced summarising the findings of the assessments.
Development of two training curriculum modules to provide training materials for those directly involved in promoting democracy at the local level. The two modules cover: Conducting Local Democracy Assessments for Enhancing Development; and Community Participation: From Design to Evaluation.
