Building on its pilot project in 1998-2000, IDEA launched in 2003 the Democracy in the Arab World (DAW) project in cooperation with the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) and with funding from the Government of Germany. The objective of the project was to contribute to democratic development and support political reform, both regionally and nationally.
The project contributed comparative analysis of and information on good practice in democratization in order to enrich debate about democratic reform in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. It sought to identify the main challenges and opportunities for reform that may also be valid for other Arab countries engaged in democratic transition or for the international community that is interested in supporting the process of reform in the Arab world. The project focused on the issues of electoral system reform, the political participation of women and the development of political parties.
A synthesis report on the project, including the main findings of the three reports is available in English and Arabic. All of the publications related to this project are available in English and Arabic.
Key activities
Three country reports on Egypt, Yemen and Jordan were published in early 2005. They resulted from in-country research on electoral laws and systems, the functioning of political parties and the role of women in politics.
Two workshops were held in Jordan and Egypt on “Democracy and Elections”.
Policy papers on reconstruction in Lebanon, democracy and poverty in the Arab world, and islamists and elections in the Arab world were also published.
Two workshops were held in Amman and Sana’a in November 2005 to disseminate and discuss the results and recommendations of the country studies.
