Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12 September 2008 - Efforts directed at building and consolidating democracy in Africa received an added boost today through the launch of a ‘Joint Activity Plan’ for democracy in Africa by HE Mrs Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission and Mr Vidar Helgesen, Secretary-General of International IDEA. The Plan was launched at a formal session with international partners in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and underpins the partnership between the two organizations for the strengthening of democracy on the Continent. The Plan is centred on the African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance which was adopted by the African Union in 2007 and will implement programmes designed to support the principles enshrined in the Charter.

It envisages spending over EURO 15 million over five years to support democracy building and the development of democratic institutions in Africa.

In her launching address, Commissioner Joiner said that “the Plan further affirms Africa’s resolve to ensure that the democracy and governance gains that have been made are secured and in fact, deepened”.

Mr Helgesen said that “the Joint Activity Plan is designed to respond to the challenges facing democracy across the Continent: making democracy work better for development, peace and security through strengthening political institutions and processes.”

The Joint Activity Plan is the next phase in the partnership between the African Union (AU) and International IDEA, cemented in a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations.

Key focus areas of the Joint Activity Plan include:

• Activities to generate an awareness of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;
  
• The promotion of democratic elections through support to the newly-created AU electoral assistance programme, including election observation and monitoring and electoral capacity enhancement for Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs);
  
• Strengthening of political parties as central political institutions in democracy to become more representative, effective agents of democratic consolidation and trusted by voters;
  
• Support to constitution building work in AU member states to ensure that constitutional development assists the promotion of democracy, elections and good governance;
  
• Using the experience of AU members as examples of effective political reform;
  
• The mainstreaming of gender in democracy, development and governance;
  
• Policy support to conflict management and peace building processes;
• The use of citizen based democracy assessment methodologies as a means to assess the state of democracy at national and local levels
  

From the left: Abdalla Hamdok, International IDEA, Ambassador Emile Ognimba, African Union Commission, HE Mrs Julia Dolly Joiner, African Union Commission, Vidar Helgesen, International IDEA
Photo ©: Margot Gould/IDEA

Commissioner Joiner also said that “the work envisaged in the Joint Activity Plan and other efforts of the African Union Commission should leave no doubt on the commitment of Africans and others towards ensuring that practical efforts are being established to further create the possibility of a developed and prosperous Africa whose citizens are empowered with the ability to pursue lives of quality and meaning”.

“The Joint Activity Plan emphasizes the development of home grown democracies as the best means of allowing democratic processes to take deep root” highlighted Abdalla Hamdok, Regional Director of IDEA’s Africa and Middle East Programme. “Underpinning this approach is the use of comparative experiences from the global South as a means to provide for the exchange of experience and lessons learned in similar processes undertaken elsewhere.”